Common Ground

There is near unanimity among the cyclists we’ve spoken with. No one is opposed to any Michigan city registering bicycles. Cyclists are opposed to (a) a city ordinance applying to non-residents, and (b) the Detroit Police Departments threat of enforcement.

Many Detroit cyclists have reported difficulty in getting the licenses; either their local precinct has been out of stock or hours of availability are too limited.

800 Free Licenses for Kids

From a recent Detroit Police Department press release:

Police Chief Ella M. Bully-Cummings along with the Detroit Police Department’s executive team, the three police unions, and the Detroit Firefighters Association have come together to provide a special gift to the children of Detroit. On Saturday, July 12, 2008, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., more than 800 FREE bicycle licenses will be available for children 15 and under (first come, first served) at various locations citywide.

From the Wheelhouse Detroit

Here’s some interesting (and positive!) news from our friends at the Wheelhouse:

We got all of our bikes licensed, and are currently working with DPD to even sell them here. Although we still have a fear, like many of the people we talk to, that licenses will be used for harassment rather than for the stated purpose of reducing bike theft, but we can only hope. And we’ve been talking to a lot of officers, all of whom feel like ticketing suburbanites — or residents for that matter — without licenses is just not going to happen. It’s not worth a trip to court for a ticket that will likely get thrown out.

Bike Riders United

A new Detroit bicycle group has formed that among other things, hopes to change this city ordinance. They have already gone before a city council committee. Some rapid remedy may be in the works.

As we posted earlier, the Detroit police will soon enforce a 1964 ordinance requiring all bicyclists within Detroit to have a licensed bike.

As expected, the Detroit News published a follow up article:

Detroit Police spokesman James Tate insisted the reason for enforcing the obscure ordinance is not to fine bicyclists.

“We’re trying to get people to register their bikes,” Tate said. “We’ve got hundreds of bikes piled up with no way of knowing who they belong to. The idea isn’t to start handing out tickets to little kids on tricycles.”

If the Detroit Police are seriously concerned about returning stolen bikes, why aren’t they using the National Bike Registry system? The National Bike Registry does provide a way of finding the owners of stolen bikes — and it does it on a nationwide basis.

Unfeasible to Enforce

Yesterday we spoke with attorney Michael Salhaney, who represents the City of Birmingham. We discussed the state law that allows cities to register bikes. He concurred that the state law requires appropriate signs through out the city, making bicycle license enforcement “unfeasible.”

Unreasonable Expectation

Also, as Dustin commented earlier, imagine if all cities started enforcing similar registrations? It’s an unreasonable expectation for cyclists to visit the police station of each city they ride through to register their bike. And it’s even more unreasonable in Detroit since the bike licenses are only for sale Mondays through Friday from 9am until 5pm.

Note that riding an unlicensed bike to the police to get it registered is against Detroit’s city ordinance.

A Better Solution

A much better solution for registering stolen bikes is to use the National Bike Registry, especially since the advent of craigslist and eBay mean stolen bikes are less likely to stay in the city where they were stolen. Cyclists can register their bike on a nationwide basis for roughly $1 per year. Or, they can pay 99 cents to register a recently stolen bicycle, which is a no-brainer.

It’s also critical that cyclists record the make, model, color, and serial number of their bikes. In case a bike is stolen, this is invaluable information that make it more likely the bike can be found. Bike serial numbers are typically found underneath the bottom bracket, where the pedals go through the bike frame.

If you have a camera, you may want to take some photos of the bike and serial number. They may come in useful in case it’s ever stolen.

Another part of the solution? The Detroit Police should set up an account with the National Bike Registry so they can clear out their “hundreds and hundreds” of recovered bikes.

The Detroit News ran an article today about Detroit Police plans to ticket cyclists in Detroit on unlicensed bikes:

In a city that has one of the nation’s highest crime rates, Detroit cops have been given the order to start cracking down on unregistered bicycles.

Starting Aug. 7, officers will start issuing $55 tickets if bikes are unregistered. The dollar-a-year licenses are good for five years.

“You’d think the Detroit cops would have better things to worry about than giving out fines to people who don’t register their bikes,” said Detroiter Marv Adams, 56.

But it’s not enforceable

But the real story is the law is unenforceable under state law.

To begin with MCL 257.606 sub-section (1)(i) states that local authorities can “[Regulate] the operation of bicycles and requiring the registration and licensing of bicycles, including the requirement of a registration fee.” The CIty of Detroit can require bicycle licenses.

However, MCL 257.606 sub-section (3) says that such a requirement “shall not be enforceable until signs giving notice of the local traffic regulations are posted upon or at the entrance to the highway or street or part of the highway or street affected, as may be most appropriate, and are sufficiently legible as to be seen by an ordinarily observant person.”

Detroit does not have any such signage nor have we heard of any plans to add any. Posting such signs around all the major city entrances would involve a major cost. I am unaware of any city within Michigan that has taken such a drastic step to make bike license registration an enforceable ordinance.

The Detroit Chief of Police has been alerted to the state law.

The Detroit News expects to run a follow up story tomorrow. They have received considerable feedback on this. Needless to say, this police announcement has not made very many people happy.

In these times of high fuel prices and people looking at alternative means of getting around, we shouldn’t be looking to penalize those riding bikes in Detroit.