I agree with the responder who said that “[bicycle] licenses are a solution in search of a problem”. For all practical purposes we already have universal licensing for cyclists - with very few exceptions cyclists also drive. The reverse is not the case.

I think a great deal of good would come of testing and training MOTORISTS in bicycle operation and safety. I have seen studies that show that driver’s attitudes towards cyclists are heavily influenced by even the most insignificant experience riding a bike. It allows drvers to see cyclists as people.

In my experience, most of the danger on the roads is a result of driver’s ignorance. They don’t know the law. They don’t know what safe riding is. And, most importantly, they have no experience riding. When they find out what it is like to be closely passed by a car going 60, be cussed out by random people for no reason, or go face-to-face with a bullying SUV, they will be much better drivers around cyclists and pedestrians.

Ideally, applicants for driver’s licenses would have to pass a serious bike riding test in a busy urban area, along a highway, and on a mixed use path. Nothing too athletic, but under real life conditions. Of course that’s fantasy (although shouldn’t be). At the very least there should be a mandatory detailed written test on cycling laws and safety. (Not the “Wear a helmet and look both ways.” sort of thing, but a “If you are here and a car is there, how do you avoid death and dismemberment?” sort of thing.)

This would save lives. Some drivers would be clueless no matter what, but I believe it would produce demonstrable improvements in safety. It might also produce safer cyclists. I think it would absolutely change perceptions, which would influence behavior.

Intolerance towards cyclists persists in part because there is little or no public recognition of their right to exist. Requiring drivers to be informed, or better yet, requiring them to experience riding on the road, would change the way they drive. Driver’s could no longer live in a fantasy world where “bicycles don’t belong on the road”, and cyclists have no rights, even when they are injured or killed. It would also require police to enforce bicycle laws - which would protect good cyclists, and encourage more appropriate cycling laws.

Starting on page iii, and 37...
https://www.gov.scot/resource/doc/156597/0042065.pdf
Some about drivers who also cycle, or do not cycle on the pages above. Most of the paper is about drivers’ perceptions of cycling, which show misunderstandings based on ignorance.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/01/drivers-negative-attitude-cyclists-bike-riders/423921/
Shows that drivers’ perceptions of cyclists change with how often they cycle. The more they cycle, the more predictable and law abiding they think cyclists are.

I saw one that correlated perceptions (or aggressive behavior) of drivers with the frequency that they rode a bike. It went from infrequent to frequent riders, something like once a month to several times a week. It had graphs showing that even riding once a month strongly affected behavior or perception. I can’t find it now.


What I noticed was that cyclists are blamed for everything, especially not following the laws, but drivers are not blamed. We all know that MANY drivers habitually speed, run red lights, run stop lights, fail to yield, cut people off, tailgate, pass in the slow lane, drive slow in the fast lane, text, etc. These things are not percieved as “breaking the law”, because they are “normal”. Drivers complain, especially in the second paper above, that cyclists do not follow the rules like a cars do. They say that if cyclists behaved “responsibly” (like a car), they would be given respect. I find the opposite to be true, it is precisely when I am acting most like a car that I get the most abuse. The only conclusion I can draw is that, while drivers have some justification for complaining about riders’ habits, it’s not really about cyclists bad behavior. You can ride through stops all day, and do all sorts of crazy stuff, and hardly be bothered by anyone. However, when you pull up at a stop light and take your place responsibly in line, you are likely to get cussed out, passed on the right, cut off, beeped at, etc. Take the slow lane in a 15, and you get cut off, tailgated, and buzzed. They don’t want you to act like a car, they want you gone. What drivers are really saying is “bicycles shouldn’t be on the road because they are not cars.” They can believe that cyclists are the worst kind of law breakers because they don’t cycle, and are accustomed to their own misdeeds. They can believe cyclists should drive like a car because they haven’t tried it and found out what happens. If they understood things better some of these illusions would disappear. They still might try to kill you, but they would know better.