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The price of pop-up bike lanes for one city’s cyclists? Compulsory registration, helmets and side mirrors

Riders in Davao City, Philippines, will have to display licence plates on their bikes

The price of pop-up bike lanes for cyclists in the third most populous city in the Philippines is compulsory registration of bikes and display of license plates, as well as mandatory helmets, side mirrors and bells.

Dionisio Abude, head of the City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) in Davao City, population 1.6 million, says that riders will have to pay an annual fee of P150 (£2.36) to register their bicycles.

He said that the scheme would also enable the CTTMO to trace bicycle owners in the event of a road traffic incident, reports topgear.com.ph.

“Registration is important to be used in litigation when road accidents involving a bicycle and its rider occur,” said Abude.

“We have to consider the cases like destruction of life and property.”

A pre-requisite of registration is that bikes must be fitted with a bell, mirrors and lights, and Abude added: “Of course, the wearing of helmet is also mandatory for them.”

He said that it would take between 15 and 20 days to mark out bike lanes in the city, which in common with others around the world has seen a surge in bike riding due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To date, just 250 bikes have been registered with the CTTMO under an ordinance originally introduced 10 years ago but which only started being implemented last year but which looks set to be enforced once the bike lanes – around 72.2 kilometres of them in total – have been introduced.

The original ordinance says that insurance is “generally optional” but “highly recommended for regular and occasional bicycle users,” however it is “strictly required for children bicycle users,” ie those aged 16 and under.

The issue of requiring cyclists to be licensed regularly is regularly raised by those who maintain that cyclists pose a danger to other road users

Here in the UK, the Labour peer Professor Winston and motoring lawyer Nick ‘Mr Loophole’ Freeman are both advocates of it being brought in, although the government has repeatedly made it clear there are no plans to do so.

> Mr Loophole lawyer says lockdown has led to “culture of toxic cycling”

But where such schemes have been introduced elsewhere in the world, they are often scrapped shortly afterwards because they prove far too costly to run while not providing any tangible benefits.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

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mitsky | 4 years ago
0 likes

I appreciate that since we are in lockdown it has been difficult to tell what time/date it is so I have to ask: is it April Fools' Day?

Avatar
David9694 | 4 years ago
1 like

If there's an RTA, you have to give your particulars to anyone reasonably requiring it - assuming you're still conscious, of course. 

There is a steady stream of "aren't cyclists terrible" letters to local newspapers. No doubt arising from many a self-styled "innocent" motorist (never speed, never park on the pavement or close pass - oh no wait, there was that time, but Stella had forgotten her purse and I had to go after her...").  

It's an amazing feat of mental gymnastics to flip yourself on the roads from king pin to underdog. https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/18506120.letter-cyclist-critic-needs-c... (I didn't catch the original letter.)

Do some of the cycle registration calls come from people in whose areas there are indeed youths on bikes causing trouble, and that if registration were to work, they'd be more easily caught?

The VED for bikes thing answers itself these days.  And for those who do pay it, it's not a "drive like a pratt tax". 

Never quite sure what I'm meant to be insuring myself against. I always struggle with cycle insurance forms as I tend to self-build and re-spray : MAKE: none (was Raleigh) MODEL: none (was Gran Sport), or MAKE Allegro (but it was a Ribble when I bought it) MODEL: Special Professional. AGE: ??????

 

Avatar
Hirsute replied to David9694 | 4 years ago
2 likes

You are either insuring your bike against damage or loss or you are insuring against third party claims based on your negligence.

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Dangerous Dan | 4 years ago
4 likes

When I was a kid the city I lived in had a mandatory registration scheme with a small fee.  You received a water decal with a registration number which was applied to the frame and then covered with lacquer to make it a little harder to remove.

The supposed reason was to be able to return stolen bicycles to their owners.  I had one bike stolen, and I don't recall that it was ever returned.

The city where I now live has an online registration scheme where you can register anything with a serial number, and they will still never catch the thief. But it is on line  and there is no charge for the service, so it is progress.

I agree with all the people posting who say this is just a way to get away from the obvious; collisions between bicycles and motor vehicles are overwhelmingly the fault of the motor vehicle.

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eburtthebike replied to Dangerous Dan | 4 years ago
4 likes

Dangerous Dan wrote:

I agree with all the people posting who say this is just a way to get away from the obvious; collisions between bicycles and motor vehicles are overwhelmingly the fault of the motor vehicle.

With the exception of the obvious fact that the fault is the driver's not the motor vehicle's, you're absolutely right.

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squired | 4 years ago
1 like

OK, I'm not the tallest person (5ft 6), but as it is I struggle to find space to attach things on my commuting bike.  At the back there are a couple of lights and a mudguard.  In the summer the lights are replaced with a saddle bag containing a spare tube and tools. The handlebars on my bike are relatively narrow, so again in the winter the two lights basically take up the available space.  I could use the freed up space in the summer for a bell, but in the winter there simply isn't enough real estate to add one.

So, lets say that they wanted me to add a registration plate to my bike in the UK.  Where exactly would I attach it?

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RobD | 4 years ago
5 likes

I'll gladly pay £2.36 a year if it shut up all the motorists moaning about lack of tax, provided of course it allowed me completely shared use of the roads as should already be my right, and meant that those who try to remove this right are punished for it.

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brooksby replied to RobD | 4 years ago
7 likes

RobD wrote:

I'll gladly pay £2.36 a year if it shut up all the motorists moaning about lack of tax, provided of course it allowed me completely shared use of the roads as should already be my right, and meant that those who try to remove this right are punished for it.

They'd just find something else to moan about, and to hate you for.

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leqin replied to RobD | 4 years ago
8 likes

We already pay all of the taxes that pay for the roads. We have done so since forever. Please read Carlton Reid's book 'Roads Were Not Built For Cars' so that you know about this and the other fallacys which car drivers, or other road users, often state as fact when in reality the opposite is the truth.

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brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes

So would you be allowed to *not* use the bike lanes, and not bother with all the registration and (literally!) other bells and whistles?

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