In a 8/13/96 conversation between J O'Neill and Phile Piltch:
PP> There has been talk in Metro Toronto of lisencing bikes - is one you
  > have a lisence or a registration?
JO> It is more like a registation in my opinion, because all they do
  > is record the make and serial number of your bike and give a sticker
PP> Is it issued only by the city or
  > does this cover a wider area? Who issues/sells the sticker and is this
  > programme mandatory?
JO> It is only within the city of Allentown. But if the sticker is still on
  > the bike it makes your chances of recovering your bike much better.
  > The sticker is sold by the city police.  They claim it is mandatory
  > but it is not enforced and I would be willing to bet that 60% of the
  > cyclist here don't know about it.
PP> Has this reduced bicycle theft, and improved recovery of stolen bikes??
JO> I never read anything about this in the local paper, there is not
  > much that can be done to recover a bike stolen by a smart thief.
If bicycle registration is to merely to record a serial #, then why
bother with legislating it?  What *OTHER* personal property will we be
required to register with the police next?
Sorry about my ranting, it's just that bicycle reg is a wasteful use of
government resources.  A lot of cell-phones, TV's, computers, and
stereos are stolen each year too.  We don't mandate THEIR registration.
But:  there *MAY* be a reason to register a bicycle locally.
I remember a Vermont legislaturer a few years ago who wanted to slap a
$25 registration fee on cyclists, because of the traffic impact he felt
they had on Vt traffic.  I got to thinking that *PLENTY* of "leaf
peepers" drive their CARS and RV's into VT too, and don't have to pay a
separate VT fee.  It would seem that if my bicycle is fully registered
in the town/city of my domicile, than just like my car, should I have to
pay any more fees?  And it would seem to apply towards any other
associated bicycle equipment too:  lights, horn, helmets, fenders.
State to state we allow the rules set for registration in the home of
the owner.  Should cyclists expect any more or less?
I'll bet this idea of charging "them" a fee comes up again somewhere in
some statehouse.  In fact, if I remember correctly, Huntington Bch, CA
passed some law that they later acknowledged to apply only to H.B.
resident cyclists.  Only thing was that non-H.B. cyclists riding thru
the town w/out SOME sort of sticker would be stopped to PROVE they lived
elsewhere.
 * SLMR 2.1a * Friends help you move, Real friends will move bodies too.
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