Helmets have no positive correlation to how safely a cyclist travels. If anything, if someone is wearing a helmet they are more likely to get into an accident because they are either inexperienced, or the helmet creates a sense of false security, causing a cyclist to ride more aggressively.
The Big Three used to make exactly those same arguments against the implementation of visible safety standards, like seat belts, in the 1960s. I'm not inclined to agree with you. I was on Bloor Street yesterday in heavy traffic, watching the cyclists, and I swear to you, I did not see ONE wearing a helmet. I saw some pretty boneheaded moves, too. These people were not the least concerned for the realities of their safety, or anyone else's, as far as I could tell.
But is the cost of licencing bicycles even worth it?
In my mind, unquestionably. Most of the reason people follow the rules driving cars is that they know if they don't, sooner or later they're going to lose their licenses to drive, and then go to jail if they keep it up. I was watching guys without helmets shooting through convenient gaps in rush hour traffic yesterday, and I was just wondering, when these clowns get killed, what motorist is going to wind up wondering if he's on the hook, and how many years he will have to wake up from nightmares of some careless idiot vaulting over his hood? If these people had to take courses, get licensed, and buy insurance, I guarantee the vast majority of them would start taking the responsibilities they have to themselves and other people more seriously. Right now, the fact that's it's nearly entirely unregulated just underlines in their minds that it's not a real responsibility... it's just a lark.
Where are we going to get the money to even implement something like that?
MTO. If they were wise, they'd see to it that most of the fees were channeled to the urban municipalities to pay for bike lanes and other cycling facilities.
Please don't lump cyclists into one category as if they are all hazardous.
Look, I was in heavy traffic watching dozens of these people yesterday. Crossing traffic, unhelmeted, going the wrong way, defying signals, taking to the sidewalk -- doing things that would have seen them in court if they'd pulled stunts like that in anything with a plate on it, no matter how humble. I'm tired of the idea that they should have all the rights and privileges of vehicular access but none of the onuses or responsibilities. This is a huge city with a lot of dangerous traffic and it's time it got serious about one unregulated aspect of it.
There are lots of irresponsible drivers out there
Yeah, and when the cops see them, they chase them. They arrest them. They prosecute them. And if they can't catch them they can take note of the plates and go knocking. I would like the same thing for the jerk on the bike who runs the red as we expect for the jerk in the car who does it.
Turning it into an us vs. them argument doesn't make the situation better for anyone.
As soon as "them" joins "us" in having and observing legal and moral responsibilities on the road, I'll have no issue. till then, yeah, I do.