DEPUTY mayor Kerryn Phelps will champion the introduction of compulsory licences and registration for cyclists despite the opposition of her boss — Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

Details of Cr Phelps’ scheme, revealed exclusively to Central Sydney, would require all cyclists to sit a compulsory test, carry a licence and have insurance.

“People don’t know what the rules are a lot of the time because they don’t have to pass any test to get on a bike — and this means there are no consequences,” Cr Phelps said.

The NSW Government abandoned a similar plan, which had been opposed by the Lord Mayor, as recently as December 2016.

media_camera Kerryn Phelps insists cyclists need to be more accountable. Picture: Danny Aarons

When contacted by Central this week, Cr Moore reiterated her personal steadfast opposition and the position of the council.

“Making bike riders do an exam and forcing them to carry ID risks discouraging riding,” she said.

“I want to encourage people to get on a bike, not put more red tape in their way. All Australian states have ruled out bike registration and licencing because it would reduce the number of people riding.”

media_camera Clover Moore said licences mean more “red tape”. Picture: Carly Earl

Cycling body Bicycle NSW, which is also opposed to plans that force cyclists to carry ID, has expressed concern about the falling number of cyclists in the city.

It blamed police crackdowns on cyclists and the removal or delay of bike paths as reasons for cycle numbers returning to 2014 levels.

On Monday a targeted police operation handed tickets to 95 cyclists who breached road rules — with offences including not wearing helmets, riding on footpaths and disobeying traffic controls.

media_camera Police undertaking Operation Pedro at Pyrmont to crackdown on irresponsible cycling behaviour.

“We have to find a way of everyone knowing under what rules they are operating and having some way to enforce these,” Cr Phelps said. “(At the moment) cyclists are the only road users who don’t have to pass some sort of test.”

Cr Phelps said she was yet to hear an argument against the scheme that would outweigh the benefits.

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“There are civil libertarians who say ‘poor cyclists, why do they have to pay a fee like cars’ — but they are vehicles who use the road and I think that if we expect drivers of buses, trucks and cars to have registration and to carry ID and in terms of incidents of recklessness, I just don’t see the logic (of the argument),” she said.

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