Bike-hating Queens assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-Queens) took center stage in the bike wars this week when he proposed a pair of bills in Albany would require every bike in the state to be registered, adorned with license plates, and commercial bicycles to be insured. Then he said cameras on bike lanes would a great idea too. Now, thankfully, the Daily News‘s Celeste Katz reports that DenDekker has withdrawn the controversial bills.
Apparently in response to very negative feedback from people and pols alike, DenDekker issued this statement when withdrawing the proposed bills:
I am withdrawing proposed legislation A. 5429. I introduced this bill in response to numerous complaints from my constituents regarding bicyclists who were not following local and state laws, and causing dangerous conditions for pedestrians and motorists alike. In this way, the original intent of this bill was to enhance pedestrian and bicycle safety through increased accountability. However, we will now explore future options to achieve stricter enforcement of the bicycle regulations.
Of course, now we have to worry what other nonsense regulations he’ll propose, but for the moment let’s all breathe a sigh of relief. (Streetsblog)