(P. Kahn) -the law and ordinance was passed as part of an effort to be sure that the bicycle was considered to be a vehicle with the rights and responsibilities of vehicles. Registration aids in this concept. The law was written and supported by all bicycle groups.
-It is not only an aid to getting your bike back, if stolen, but it reduces police wasted time in dealing with recovered bikes. The law was supported by police forces throughout the state, who would have liked to see it mandatory everywhere. (The compromise was to leave this at the discretion of the municipality). (KM) In my opinion, I don't think that legitimizing a bicycle as a legal road vehicle is a valid enough reason to require mandatory registration. Neither is reducing wasted police time in recovering stolen property. Bicycles should be legal road vehicles with or without registration. But I would support registration of bicycles that was NOT mandatory because of the benefits of aiding in stolen property recovery. Unfortunately, the downside of a mandatory registration is the possibility of selective and punitive enforcement (Critical Mass rides) To me, this greatly outweighs the benefits of having registration mandatory. I would not have predicted this would become an issue, but it has. The issue of mandatory bicycle registration may have stayed as a very little known fact until the MPD chose to enforce it on a certain group when it has not been generally enforced in the past. I do not think the average road rider has had many thoughts in the past of having their bicycle removed from under them for lack of registration until now. Lets remove the possibility to selectively enforce by making bicycle registration optional and easier and we will still reap the benefits of stolen property recovery. Kris Musser Linden Hills p. s. a little trick if you need to leave your bike unattended for a moment (caffeine stop) is to shift through a few gears and open up the quick release on your front wheel. anyone trying for a speedy getaway wont go too far! (just dont forget to close it when you are ready to go!) _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
