Insuring and registering cyclists

As a cyclist I can see where Peter Murray (Cyclists Versus Motorists, October 14) is coming from but as I have stated before, the problem of licensing and insuring bicycles is not as simple as it seems if purely from an economy of scale. Certainly cyclists might benefit from registration as this may also deter theft, but bearing in mind that the idea is to encourage cycling, registration and insurance costs would have to in reasonable proportion to not only small capacity motorcycles, but below that of motorised bicycles, should these ever fall into a regularised insurance category; please note ADT.

I doubt if the island's quasi-cartel of insurers will find offering suitable and reasonable cover a tempting enough economic titbit. The fee might not cover the paperwork. True the cycling federation offers insurance to their members, but I believe that this is only valid for competitive riding. This is done on closed roads without the attentions of other traffic with relatively little risk. How will insurers realistically balance their risk based upon the cut and thrust of road riding in rush hour traffic?

That the federation does not appear to have a commuter section and has kept out of the essentially "them and us" argument that affects cyclist commuters, I fail to see how they can represent cyclists outside of competition either. Although here I must admit that I'd be the first to join their ranks if they did start a commuting section or lobby. But realistically a non-profit NGO should not have to shoulder a national registration, insurance and training package. After all we would not expect to register or insure our cars through the island car club or expect them to provide driving lessons and examiners. Although I still have my cycling proficiency certificate issued by ROSPA, who would carry out and administer that training now? Interestingly the UK government, which has neither registration or insurance, recently suggested cycling should be taught in all schools, killing two birds with one stone, encouraging cycling and carrying good road over into later car ownership.

Unfortunately bad cyclists make all cyclists look bad, as certain other correspondents delight in pointing out, yet most are reasonably responsible. They have to be; they are most likely to come a cropper in an accident. The simple answer is if they are not abiding by the highway code then they deserve to be brought to book whether they pay for the privilege or not.

However we should be wary of casting stones because having no official training course or formal cycling test, a cyclist's behaviour is learnt vicariously, socialised from within the context of the normal practices of other road users. The police, who do a sterling job, have far bigger fish to fry than cyclists and I doubt we can rely on the services of rent-a-cop after dark, therefore the only solution at the moment is to lead by example and hope others pick up the good habits too.