Most people also want to see rule-breaking bicycle riders issued penalty points
Motoring lawyer Nick Freeman has launched a Parliamentary petition calling for a compulsory registration scheme for cyclists and a clamp down on e-scooters. His recommendations include those who wish to bike on the road being registered and having to wear unique numbered tabards – similar to car licence plates – so they can be identified. Other recommendations include penalty points on their driving licences (if they have them) for cyclists who break the law.
Some six in ten of the general public (60%) would support cyclists donning numbered identification tabards – including 31% who would “strongly support” this idea. While support is higher among Conservative voters (71%), Labour voters would also broadly support the idea (55%).
Freeman argues the proposal would make cycling safer, but around a quarter of people (28%) would be opposed to the identification scheme, with 15% “strongly” opposed.
Further to this support among the general population, there is considerable support among those who have recently used bikes. Some 43% of people who have cycled in the last year would support a requirement for cyclists to wear an indentification number, However 51% of these cyclists would be opposed to the idea, including 37% “strongly opposed” to the idea of wearing the numbered tabards.
Opinion among those who have used a private car in the last year is broadly similar to that of the general population, with 61% in favour of indentification for cyclists.
Another of Freeman’s recommendations in his petition is for cyclists who are caught breaking the rules of the road to be issued penalty points to their driving licence (if they have one) as motorists are.
Seven in ten people (71%) would back penalty points for cyclists who break the laws of road, including two in five (40%) who would “strongly support” this idea. Only 20% of the public would oppose points for cyclists.
Among those who have cycled in the past year, 58% would support penalty points for cyclists who do not keep to the rules of the road, compared to 73% of motorists who hold the same view.
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