Clovis repeals bike licensing, registration requirement

Last May, Clovis launched a new voluntary bicycle registration system with the police department. That system allows residents the chance to register their serial number with the department to try and make theft recovery easier, should it happen. As I mentioned in that article, the new program conflicted with an existing law.

That law, in place since 1975, stated that in Clovis, one is required to register their bike, receive a license…..and display a license plate. The law also included rules on transfer of ownership, and fines. Such a ridiculous law has not been enforced in years, if ever. However, now the council finally took up the motion to repeal that entire section of the code as to not conflict with the new voluntary system.

This is a good thing. Even if the laws were never enforced, having bogus laws on the books can lead to police abuse. Imagine if you’re riding a bike, but breaking no law. If unenforced laws that no one knows about are still valid, an officer could stop you and cite you just because he doesn’t like your face.

The details of the old law are pretty amusing, in how absurd it is. Frankly, it seems like they took the automobile section of the law, and simply pasted in the word bicycle. Fortunately, the fees and such were “reasonable”.

Here are some extracts of the section which has been repealed, and some simple reasons why they made no sense.

It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or use a bicycle
propelled wholly or in part by muscular power upon any of the streets,
alleys, or public highways of the City without first obtaining from the
Police Department a license therefor.

Naturally this section doesn’t work out so well because Clovis is not an island. Once cannot simply ban all bicycle traffic from Fresno, for example. 

……Such licenses, when issued, shall entitle the licensee to operate such
bicycle for which such license has been issued upon all the streets,
alleys, and public highways, exclusive of sidewalks, of the City.

The City shall provide license plates and seals, together with
registration cards, as designated and furnished by the Director of the
Department of Motor Vehicles of the State. The registration cards shall
be numbered in chronological order as issued, with the registration
number of the license plates shown thereon. It shall be the duty of the
Police Department to attach such license plate to the frame of the
bicycle to, which issued. Such license plate shall remain attached
during the existence of such license. The Police Department shall also
keep a record of the date of issuance of each license, to whom the
license was issued, and the number thereof.  

Clearly the people who wrote the law (and voted to implement it!) had never actually seen a bicycle. Would the license plate have been 2 or so inches wide? Placing such an object on a bike, which wasn’t designed to hold one is not just a hassle, it’s useless. Occasionally someone who isn’t thinking will ask why bikes aren’t required to have license plates, as they could help in identifying lawbreakers. They don’t stop to think that car plates are hard enough to read, a 2 inch one would be impossible.

That doesn’t even get into the massive bureaucracy of such a program, if it were actually enforced.

This next part is also ridiculous

All persons engaged in the business of selling new or secondhand
bicycles are hereby required, within ten (10) days after each sale, to
report such sale to the Police Department. Such reports shall set forth a
list of all sales made by such dealers, which list shall include the
name and address of each person to whom sold, the kind of bicycle sold, a
description and the frame number thereof, and the number of the license
plate attached thereto, if any.

It shall be the duty of every person who sells or transfers ownership of
any bicycle to report such sale or transfer by returning to the Police
Department the registration card…….

So essentially, selling a bike had more registration requirements than selling a gun!

As I mentioned previously, the fees weren’t exactly a burden…

The license fee to be paid for each bicycle shall be One and no/100ths
($1.00)    Dollar for each year, or portion thereof, from the date of
issuance to the expiration date of the license and shall be paid in
advance. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 4.1.06
of this chapter, such license may be transferred, and a fee in the
amount of twenty-five (25) cents shall be paid for the registration of
such transfer

But really, march on down to the police office to hand over 25 cents and fill out a form explaining the transfer of bike ownership?

Somehow, the people writing the law thought that not only would these fees cover the cost of the bureaucracy….but enough would be left over to build new bike trails!

Revenues from license fees collected pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter shall be used to pay expenses incurred in support of the
provisions of this chapter, to reimburse retailers for services
rendered, to improve bicycle safety programs, and to establish bicycle
facilities, including bicycle paths and lanes, within the City.

The fine for not following the law was to be an onerous $5, which could pretty much be applicable to 95% of households in Clovis. Even if you don’t ride a bike, almost everyone has one (or five) in their garage.

However, this part here does go back to where I talk about how having something like this in the books could lead to abuse

In addition to the penalties provided by Title 1
of this Code for violations of the provisions of this Code, the Police
Department, or any of the members thereof, may impound and retain
possession of any bicycle operated in violation of any of the provisions
of this chapter and may retain possession of such bicycle until the
license provided for by this chapter is obtained by the owner of such
bicycle.

That is, if they didn’t like your face, the cops could say “no license plate, no bike” and leave you stranded. Did it ever happen? Probably not. But why leave it to chance?

Fortunately, no objection was raised by the city council last week, and the section of the code has been removed.

Below the jump, the full section of the municipal code, as it will probably disappear from the Internets soon.  You can find it yourself here, section 4.1

Chapter 4.1
BICYCLES*

4.1.01 Definitions.

4.1.02 Licenses: Required.

4.1.03 Licenses: Issuance: Term.

4.1.04 License plates and seals: Registration cards.

4.1.05 Reports of bicycle dealers.

4.1.06 Transfer of ownership.

4.1.07 Changes of address.

4.1.08 Tampering with license plates, seals, registration cards, and numbers.

4.1.09 Fees.

4.1.10 Use of license fees.

4.1.11 Violations: Penalties.

4.1.12 Violations: Impounding bicycles.