One Man’s Push to Require Bike Licenses in Oregon

Buoyed by support from across the state, Portlander Bob Huckaby is going full-steam ahead on a statewide ballot measure that would require all bicycles to have license plates and would mandate a bicycle law test for all adults who don't already have a driver's license.

We first reported on Huckaby last month, when he shared concerns over the City's decision to partially close N. Wheeler Avenue at Broadway. Huckaby owns First Inc., a business just a few blocks away from the intersection. "Instead of making people obey the laws," Huckaby shared with me on August 19th, "they're penalizing everyone else, and that's not right." A few days after the closure, Huckaby told a local TV news station that he planned to take the bicycle license requirement to voters via a ballot measure.

So far, Huckaby remains 100% dedicated to this effort. He's building a coalition of support from around the state and he has hired a lawyer who is currently writing up the ballot language. While precise details are still being worked out, Huckaby says the measure (or measures, he might end up splitting them into two) would seek to create a new "bicycle endorsement" education program for people who have not taken the Oregon driver's test. It would also mandate more police enforcement of traffic laws. To pay for the new bicycle-specific testing and the enforcement, Huckaby's measure would require a fee for the endorsement test and would require registration via a license plate on all bicycles in Oregon.