Should cyclists be insured?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....ing-pay-road-tax.html

Is this Taxi boss correct when he says every cyclist should be trained and insured?

[DTCwordfan]

mow them down then?

[ladybirder]

I would love them to be insured because as sure as eggs is eggs one is going to get me one day. They ride up silently behind you on the pavement or in my local park and I don't even know they are there until they whizz past. And while we're at it, a bell should be compulsory.

[cathfromsaron]

yes, would be better! i was nearly knocked over on the pavement today!

[sherrardk]

Any cyclist who is on the road when they have a designated (& expensive) cycle path adjacent to the road should be gently nudged by any driver who is passing, IMO.

[DTCwordfan]

definitely insurance, as well as for anybody taking a mobile transport object onto our highways and bi-ways.

[joggerjayne]

I have cycling insurance. It costs me a few tens of pounds a year for £5m per claim cover.

[ELVIS68]

Can't see it happening myself, whose going to pull them over and check?

[joggerjayne]

Nobody will check until they cause an accident in which someone is injured, and they are presented with a medical treatment and care bill for £200,000. At which point, the cycling insurance premium will seem like a good investment.

[SpikeyBush]

I love cycling, it counters the stress and myther I have to put up with during the week. I have insurance because I could make a mistake which leads to damage to someone else's property. If this became mandatory it would be difficult to enforce. Those who don't care about their personal responsibilities in life seldom seem to be taken to account, thanks to the liberal attitudes of recent administrations.

[d9f1c7]

Not feasable, we can't even get them to have lights and ride on the bleedin road For Funks Sake! Where as I applaud the intent there are too many insurmountable obstacles.

[ojread2]

yes! they should also have to undergo a cycling test

[starone]

It is very likely the cyclist will be the one that is injured or killed should there be an accident involving one. Whenever I am in a car and approaching a cyclist I am petrified that he or she will do something unexpected before we can get past. There should be a law (ha-ha) to say there should be lights front and back. Perhaps bicycles could be made with integral lighting instead of having to buy separately.

[EDDIE51]

At school we were taught road and cycle safety and had to pass the cycling proficiency test if we wanted to cycle to school. It was part of the curriculum , not so now, schools struggle to teach the basics of reading and writing never mind road safety. If cyclists do not learn the basic safety rules when they start to ride a bike they never will.

[Bexflower]

If we had to have insurance etc for cyclists wouldn't this mean that most likely children would not be able to ride their bicycles because they would be too young to hold an insurance policy? Furthermore it would also mean that it's an added expense which no one will want to afford, this will then lead to more people being less active and an increased unhealthy society. Surely this goes against the Government's initiative?! I personally think cyclist should be allowed to go on the Pavements because it would mean that they are a less danger to other vehicles on the road and to themselves too. According to somewhere on the internet I read previously one can receive a £500 fine for cycling on a pavement- this seems a bit steep.

[NOX]

Must we seriously legislate and impose rules on EVERYTHING? A bit of common sense on the part of bikes ( if not used they get killed so end of problem- no need to legislate) and cars (irritating though hoards of bikes can be when in a faster metal box- just wait it won't kill you) and everything is fine, and no I don't ride a bike very much before anyone assume I'm a militant cyclist, but it is seriously overkill, like most other things these days.

[Eve]

I wish there were more requirements but could be very difficult to enforce.

On my daily commute I go down a long "corridor"(Wilmslow/Oxford Road) into city centre Manchester with unis, student halls and at least one school, a major hospital and numerous businesses including the very popular Curry Mile, part of which corridor is also apparently the busiest bus route in Europe.

There are loads of cyclists, many of whom have no helmet, totally unsuitable clothing (long flowing skirts or cardigans), no lights/high vis, headphones in etc... I've seen some very close calls and some accidents, one awful one (albeit in a different area of the city) with a cyclist lying dead in the road after an accident. Of course I'm not saying all the incidents were their fault, not at all, but I've often reached well into double figures counting cyclists without a helmet just on the stretch I take (I tend to give up after about 20).

There was an article on it in the local press not long ago:

http://menmedia.co.uk...cidents-in-manchester

[ummmm]

What about kids?

My son cycles on his paper round. Should be expected to pay insurance from his wages?

[seadogg]

I ride a bike and I like your post NOX. As to the irresponsible cyclists, too many times have I seen the police ignore their antisocial antics. Tax is just silly. Even certain vehicles with low emissions are now exempt.

[ummmm]

We shouldn't moan about fat kids if we're going to make riding a bike unaffordable.