Council to Consider Bicycle Registration

 by KYW's Mike Dunn

The ongoing jockeying among cars, bicycles, and pedestrians in Philadelphia took a tragic twist in recent weeks with the deaths of two pedestrians who were struck by bicycles. Now, City Council may look at requiring the registration of bikes so cyclists who cause accidents can be tracked down.

City councilman Frank DiCicco says countless pedestrians are struck by bicyclists and rarely does the cyclist stop:
 
"When someone's struck by a bicycle, all you know is it's someone on a bike, and the bicyclist takes off."

His colleague Jim Kenney says the recent deaths of two pedestrians highlight the need to restore some order:

"There are elements that refuse to follow the rules, refuse to stay in the bike lane, swerve in and out of traffic during rush hour."

So, DiCicco on Thursday was preparing to propose a bill that would institute mandatory bicycle registration:

"My bill would require everyone who operates a bicycle over the age of 12 to have his or her bicycle registered. Because we'll at least have a tag, which we can identify in case there is an accident."

Kenney, meantime, will propose increasing the fines for riding bicycles on the sidewalks. The current fine is $10. Kenney wants it to be $300. He also wants the current $3 fine for wearing headphones while on a bicycle to also increase to $300:

"We've had a center city death and a South Philadelphia death, and God knows how many other injuries that have gone unreported. People's health and safety -- and life -- is in the balance with this."

It was not immediately clear whether police or another agency would be responsible for enforcing the new measures. The ideas will be debated in committee.

Kenney will also propose penalties for bicyclists who remove brakes from their vehicles, a practice that he says is suddenly gaining in popularity. He suggests either a $1,000 fine for those operating bicycles without brakes, or a penalty of forfeiture of the bike.

Mayor Nutter, questioned Wednesday morning on KYW Newsradio's "Ask the Mayor" program, was noncommittal on the idea of mandatory bicycle registrations.

Nutter would neither endorse nor reject the idea, though he admitted that rogue cyclists are a big problem:

"I've seen adults, for instance, riding on the sidewalk, cyclists blowing right through red lights -- they're supposed to stop for red lights like everyone else.  It's very dangerous."

You can hear the mayor's full comments in the podcast, above right.

KYW's Steve Tawa reports that the legislation comes as more folks are riding bicycles in Philadelphia, some of whom are clearly violating traffic laws, according to Philadelphia police.  

Rules for bicyclists are written into the motor vehicle code, and Philadelphlia police sergeant Ray Evers says enforcement will be stepped up in the next couple of weeks:

"We're not targeting the family on a Sunday trying to get to Fairmount Park on their bikes, and they coast through a stop sign."

Evers says they'll stop egregious violators:

"We're looking for people on bikes causing hazards to motor vehicles and pedestrians."

That would include cyclists careening along sidewalks, making pedestrians jump out of the way, or going the wrong way on streets, forcing vehicles to screech on their brakes.

Evers says police are working with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia to get the word out during an upcoming educational campaign:

"There's an opportunity to give someone a break, so to speak. If there's something very careless, tickets will be given."

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia says the bottom line is, try to behave on a bike as if you're driving a car.