Cyclists license

As a person who travels by bike through the inner city of Stockholm on a daily basis, I have come to form the strong belief that we should require that all cyclists hold a cyclists license. A drivers license for cyclists.

All cyclists are expected to follow the rules of traffic, just as car drivers are. It's in the law. I am not allowed to drive a car without a drivers license; I cannot get a drivers license without knowing traffic rules. But I'm allowed to ride my bike, in traffic, without any form of education and proof that I in fact know the rules that I'm supposed to follow.

Cyclists who break traffic rules are at best a menace to themselves and at worst putting the lives of others at risk - especially other cyclists. A person on a bike is exceptionally vulnerable to collisions or to falling. Another cyclist clipping your handlebars or forcing you to veer in panic may take you out in a flash, pray that you're wearing a helmet and not ending up beneath a car.

Even if no accident occurs, cyclists who break traffic rules contribute to creating a sense of unpredictability in traffic. Will that cyclist run a red light? Veer into my front wheel? Overtake me in a tight curve? Slam the brakes? Maybe. Maybe not. I can't trust that they won't.

Cyclists are expected to follow rules that they've never been taught. Road signs, right of passage, the importance of wearing a helmet, speed limits, how and when to overtake other cyclists etc.

The consequences for breaking the rules are laughably low. Last I checked, the punishment for the most common traffic infringements by cyclists, in Sweden, incur a 500 SEK (~€50) fine and afterwards you're allowed to hop on your bike and ride away from the incident. Absurd as it is, as a cyclicst, you may also lose your drivers license - for your car! - for more serious infringements.

We should demand that all cyclists hold a cyclists license to be allowed to ride a bike in traffic. It doesn't have to require a long and arduous education. A couple of hours should suffice. Enough to educate folks on the most common traffic rules, road signs and how to protect themselves and others from harm in traffic. After a short test a license is issued. It could be something we do in school as kids, just like how we're taught how to swim in school.

Serious infringements should make you lose your license. The small fine we impose today is not enough. If you're a menace in traffic, you should not be allowed in traffic, until you've proven that you won't be a menace in the future. After losing your license you need to re-take the test. But punishment is not the end goal.

What's important is that we're all given an opportunity to learn how to behave in a safe way in traffic. Let's not leave that to chance.