Now every tyke's tricycle, hipster's track bike and jock's mountain bike in New Jersey will be free to ride without a required license plate, as state Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex) has withdrawn her controversial proposal Thursday.
The New Jersey lawmaker was offering up a bill that would require every bicycle rider in the state to pay $10 a year to register his or her bike with the Division of Motor Vehicles, reports NJ.com.
To prove that they had registered their "motor vehicles," each rider would have had to attach a license plate to their human-powered transportation that would read "BICYCLE," reports NJ.com.
But after much media coverage and public outcry, Tucker changed her mind.
“My intention was never to impose a burden or additional costs," Tucker said in a statement. "My goal was to at least begin a discussion of how best to protect elderly pedestrians. No idea is perfect, but protecting elderly pedestrians deserves attention."
Tucker says that her bicycle-plate bill was inspired by several senior citizens who called her and complained about kids on bikes.
Had the bill gone through, all bikers registering their "vehicle" would have had to provide information such as the year, model, color, weight, serial number, owner’s address, date purchased and amount of state sales tax they paid on it, reports NJ.com.
