Progressive Minds

While the title may be a bit of an exaggeration, Senator Michael Fahy has clearly demonstrated either a lack of reading skills, or lack of comprehension skills in his criticisms of the Auxiliary Bicycle Bill that is to be brought before the House today.

The bill clearly states that to be able to ride an auxiliary cycle, a person will have to complete Project Ride, and that from the age of 16-18 they will not be able to tow another passenger. In addition, they will not be able to ride on the roads between 1am and 5am.

The Government has discussed this bill with many stakeholders – road safety officers, police, students, and parents. The object of this bill is not to be punitive but to encourage and foster a responsible riding culture that will mature with the rider. Once 18, if the rider has no infractions on their record then they will be able to ride their bike whenever and wherever.

There is NOTHING whatsoever in the bill that refers to jail time for offenders. The punishments are fines and or demerits which would be applied to the offender’s licence.

Secondly, it has been insinuated elsewhere that this is a blanket curfew for teens. This is not true either. They just cannot operate their bicycles between 1am and 5am. If they are in a car being driven by licensed drivers, then they are fine.

The ONLY change made from when the Opposition saw their version of the Bill and the one to be presented to Parliament is that originally the time frame was 12am to 5am, however it was thought best to move the time to 1am as some teens do work at jobs that will have them out until 12am and they would need time to get home.

Yet again we have an uninformed or misinformed Opposition representative raising alarm bells and being taken at face value by the Royal Gazette. If Senator Fahy, and if the RG reporter, had done their research and read the bill they would know that there was never anything in there about jail time for these offenders. Once again they are letting sensationalism and paranoia get in the way of the truth.