Brains said:
Every schoolchild should take the Cycling Proficiency Test at about the age of 10-11.
I'd also be in favor of an additional test at about the age of 15-16
Whilst this is not the same as saying Cyclists need to take a test to be on the road, it would mean the majority of cyclists would have a test certificate of some sort
However, the one bit I would ensure is that if you did not have your cycling Proficiency test certificate, you could not apply for a motorcycle license.
Only once you had passed your motorcycle test and had about a year of experience could you then apply for a car license, and so it goes up, larger vechiles is one year after you have passed the test for the smaller vehicle
so you're discriminating against anyone with a medical condition or disability that may preclude their riding a bike from ever having the opportuinty to drive a motor vehicle.
severe asthma, breathing problems, thalidomide sufferers, people with particular disabilities or limb problems.
you are forcing people to put off careers where a load/passenger carrying motor vehicle is necessary until they're older
lorry drivers can only become lorry drivers some way into their 20's when they've graduated through the ranks - what do they do in the meantime? minimum wage time serving jobs whilst they wait to realise their dream or do they work toward one career only to jack it in and start again on the bottom rung in the trucking world. Do they have to put families on hold in case they have to take a big financial step back.
Why should I have to go to the hassle of paying for test year on year, then having to sell/buy vehicles, change insurance, learn a whole new set of skills and the different awarenesses that you need for different modes of transport.
how do you stop people illegally missing stages and effectively joyriding I'd suggest your plan would make for more uninsured and dangerous, untrained illegal car drivers out of people not prepared to go through years of rigmarole just to get their hands on fast, warm & dry private transport with a decent sound system and the facility to impress and transport girls/boys & more than 1 friend at a time, able to converse with them whilst moving and in greater comfort.
I can ride a bike, I can drive a car. Motorbikes I can't get - I tried as a teen/20's and kept falling off, I took training, it didn't help, I quit them before I died. My wife's lived all of her life on a busy main road, her parents never let her ride a bike and as an adult she doesn't fancy learning. My daughter, of her own free will, hates bikes and won't countenance one.
By your logic none of us could/will ever be able to drive a car. Me and Mrs have a combined 39 years driving experience,no accidents, no police trouble, not even a parking ticket and only 3 points ever between us (36 in a 30 zone on a dual carriageway with central reservation and no signage where we (I!) got onto it, 30 yards and a fence from the nearest dwelling. not that I'm still bitter or anything
).
In theory everyone on the road in a motor vehicle has had to pass a test and obtlain a licence, it really doesn't stop bad driving car v car, car v truck artic v flat bed etc does it.
It doesn't take Stephen Hawking's IQ to guess the outcome of a coming together between 12 stone of squidgy and 2 tons of metal, yet a few people still take insane risks on bikes, If they can't see the inherent danger of something vastly heavier and harder than them then training really isn't going to make a whole lot of difference.