Cyclists who break road laws should be punished and one police commissioner believes identification plates may be the best way to ensure this happens.
Katy Bourne – the Sussex police and crime commissioner – is the advocate of the proposed scheme. She firmly believes that cyclists should be treated the same as drivers on the roads and if they are, it might “make life easier for everybody,” reports The Argus.
On Monday Mrs Bourne declared: “I would like to see cyclists wear some form of identification.
“So when they go through traffic lights, you can actually identify them and then you can prosecute them for breaking the law.”
She then said the idea was “one for the legislators” and that it was a “debate that should be had.”
“It is something that has been at the back of my mind for a long time,” she continued. “Because when you use the road, if you are driving a car you have your number plate. Other people register, they pay to use the roads.
However, Mrs Bourne’s suggestion was countered by Tony Green, of the Brighton and Hove Cycling Campaign.
He informed The Argus that car drivers do not pay to use the road, despite common belief. Car tax (vehicle excise duty) goes into the central coffers, not the roads; road tax was abolished in 1937.
The idea was also repudiated by Carlton Reid – author of Roads Were Not Built For Cars – who told The Times: “It’s an ill-thought through idea.”
Do you think Mrs Bourne is right? Should cyclists have license plates?
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