Cleopatra Tucker Withdraws Bike Registration Bill

By Art Gallagher

Bob Ingle is reporting that Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker has withdrawn the legistration she proposed that would have required bicycle registration fees and license plates.  According to Ingle, Tuckers intent was to protect elderly pedestrians.  OK, if you say so Assemblywoman.

Congratulations are in order to Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre who used these pages to first bring Tucker’s legislation to light.   Thanks also to the MMM reader who brought the bill to Mike’s attention.

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Hey Trenton – Keep Your Arse Off My Bicycle!

By Tommy DeSeno
Growing up in Asbury Park, having a bicycle stolen was a fairly common event.  Sometimes you’d get it back.  The kid who stole it was just joy riding and would leave it somewhere for you to find it again.
 
But then there were those other thieves – the ones who took your bike and sold it on some sort of bicycle black market the police would always claim the knew about but could never crack.  What bothered me most about those times was the money – the money I wouldn’t get back for the bike that was stolen, and the money I would have to spend on the replacement bike I would have to buy.
 
Thanks to Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker, (D – Essex) I’m getting that “someone stole my bicycle” feeling again.
 
Tucker has introduced Bill A3657, which I hope our Governor will veto with libertarian flair should it reach his desk.
 
The bill would require bicycles to be registered with a bill of sale like cars, and have a form of license plate displayed.  Every 2 years you’d have to pay another $10 to re-register your bicycle (there are 6 in my house) and if you didn’t register your bicycle, you’d face a $100 fine and revocation of your bicycle registration privileges.
 
Good grief.
 
Bicycles, at least for enthusiasts, are symbols of freedom and self-improvement.  To Democrat Tucker, it’s a chance for the government to collect revenue.
 
Bicycles are poorer folks means of transportation for the very reason that they are poor and can’t have a car.  To tax them is to reach way down to the lowest incomes to raise money for the government.  More proof that Democrats aren’t friends of the poor that will be ignored by the lame-stream liberal media.
 
Maybe we should have known this was coming.  Climate-change bullies have been trying to get us to ditch our cars and ride more bicycles for years.  Could taxes and fees on bicycles by Democrats have been far behind? 
 
Tucker will argue that the registration will help recover stolen bicycles.  Sure – because thieves are so dumb they won’t think to remove the registration tag.
 
I’d rather go out hunting for my stolen bike after it’s gone than pay a fee for a service that’s never going to work.

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