Campbelltown councillor Neville Griggs wants to lobby for bicycle registrations

ALL bicycles should be registered to discourage cyclists from riding recklessly, a Campbelltown councillor says.

General, generic photo of a road cyclist riding his bike along The Esplanade, Burleigh Heads. Picture: Brendan Radke. Picture: Radke Brendan

ALL bicycles should be registered to discourage cyclists from riding recklessly, a Campbelltown councillor says.

Councillor Neville Grigg wants to lobby the State Government, through the Local Government Association, for mandatory bicycle registration, saying cyclists need to be made more accountable.

Cr Grigg said registration would make it easier for the police and the public to identify cyclists who failed to obey to road rules.

“There are all these laws in place that bike riders have to obey, like give way to pedestrians and sound their bells, but, from personal experience, a lot of the time that doesn’t happen,” Cr Grigg said.

“If they had some sort of identification on the back of the bike … we could make cyclists more accountable for disobeying the rules.

“I’ve had cyclists come past me at Thorndon Park doing high speeds … it’s about improving safety for pedestrians.

“I don’t think it needs to be an expensive exercise, I don’t think it should cost as much as registering cars, but maybe a couple of dollars for them to buy plastic number plates.”

Bike SA chief executive Christian Haag said forcing cyclists to register their bicycles was a bad idea.

“There is clear evidence the administrative cost of the such a scheme would exceed any revenue from it,” Mr Haag said.

“It would also act as a barrier to getting more people cycling for transport, recreation and health.

“The other concern with such a scheme is whether there are any age restrictions.

“For most families that have several children, there are multiple bikes that would need registering – again a disincentive to getting our children active.”

Bicycle Institute of SA chairman Ian Radbone.

Bicycle Institute of SA chairman Ian Radbone labelled the idea “silly”.

“The basic cost of it, just the administration cost would be about $50 a year,” Dr Radbone, of Norwood, said.

“A typical family has four or five bikes, so that’s $400 or $500 that they’d be paying.

“The State Government wants to encourage cycling because they worry about the health costs of using cars and cycling is the answer.”

LGA chief executive Matt Pinnegar said the association had no position on the issue but, if requested by Campbelltown Council, would ask for other councils’ opinions on the matter.

Police figures obtained under Freedom of Information showed cyclists were being fined for riding illegally on footpaths despite changes to road rules in October last year.

Under the rule changes, cyclists of all ages are able to ride on footpaths.

However, police have issued five fines to cyclists for “offences applicable to riding on footpaths”.

In 2014, the NSW government said it was considering licensing options for cyclists, but no such regulation has been introduced.

A Transport Department spokeswoman said a registration scheme for bicycles was not being considered by the State Government.