# Philadelphia wants to outlaw fixed gears!



## main line cycles (Nov 20, 2009)

Hey all,

Just wanted to give a heads-up to anyone who lives in the Philly area, or plans to visit with their bikes.

Yesterday, City Council members Frank DiCicco and Jim Kenney introduced bills to regulate cycling in the city. The bills (090828, 090829, and 090845) include some reasonable, commonsense rules regarding riding on sidewalks and riding with headphones, but also mandate bicycle registration, and most of all, outlaw brakeless fixed-gears, with a penalty of forfeiture of your bike!

If you think this is not OK, email them ([email protected], [email protected]) and, if you live in Philadelphia, email your district councilperson (contact info is listed at http://www.phila.gov/citycouncil, and give them a piece of your mind. If you live out of town and still want to get involved, you'll probably have the most impact calling Council President Anna Verna at (215) 686-3412 (she doesn't have a publicly listed email) and suggesting what this legislation will do for bicycle tourism in her city.

Either way, you can find the news on the bills' progress at http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/.


x-posted to fixed-single speed forum


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Outlaw fixed gears? Hogwash. There's a push to enforce statutes requiring bicycles to have an effective brake— an effort I support.


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## SPlKE (Sep 10, 2007)

It is about brakes, not gearing.

Anyway, the bill has a long way to go before becoming law. Here's an update from John at the Bicycle Coalition:

http://blog.bicyclecoalition.org/2009/11/where-are-bicycle-bills-now.html


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## bicyclenerd (Feb 16, 2005)

Philly sucks... that city is so freaking backwards. I lived there for 10 years and everything is so f-ed up. The best was the big fat radio lady who wanted to open WRD on weekends to make her commute into work easier... haha. They should worry about the bigger issues.


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## Tommy Walker (Aug 14, 2009)

What is the rationale for fixed gears? I can actually see a fine for no brakes, but some of the fines seem excessive. Confiscating a bike also seems stupid; if someone's car does not have brakes it's not confiscated a fine is given.

Registration actually is not a bad idea, but would the cost involved be worth it. I mean it could help with recovering stolen bicycles. I wouldn't want a license plate on the back of my Cervelo, but a small sticker with an RFI tag on the downtube would be OK. It might also help out bike shop business if you have to go to your LBS, have the bike checked out every year or two and pay $10 or so for a sticker. 

I really don't think bad brakes are the cause of many of the issues with cycling; I think it's driver education and providing street access through bike lanes.


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## ridenfish39 (Jun 20, 2008)

Tommy Walker said:


> What is the rationale for fixed gears? I can actually see a fine for no brakes, but some of the fines seem excessive. Confiscating a bike also seems stupid; if someone's car does not have brakes it's not confiscated a fine is given.
> 
> Registration actually is not a bad idea, but would the cost involved be worth it. I mean it could help with recovering stolen bicycles. I wouldn't want a license plate on the back of my Cervelo, but a small sticker with an RFI tag on the downtube would be OK. It might also help out bike shop business if you have to go to your LBS, have the bike checked out every year or two and pay $10 or so for a sticker.
> 
> I really don't think bad brakes are the cause of many of the issues with cycling; I think it's driver education and providing street access through bike lanes.


I live in Philthydelphia.........
I would never register my bike. There is a ridiculous number of uninsured drivers and illegal, unregistered vehicles here, that's why car insurance is so high in the city. Fix that problem first. Just another city scam to try to wring more money out of people who actually pay their bills.


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## Jonny_D (May 8, 2009)

Did this come after some recent accidents involving fixes?


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## Zipp0 (Aug 19, 2008)

Two years ago I was in W. Philly to help a friend move. There was a gang of about 150 shirtless, helmetless thugs RIPPING down the street on offroad motocross bikes and 4 wheelers. They rode right into traffic and dared anyone to do anything about it, pulling wheelies and all. I couldn't believe it.

And these MORONS are worried about fixed gear bicycles? Man, am I glad I don't live in that craphole.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

*pedestrians killed*



Jonny_D said:


> Did this come after some recent accidents involving fixes?


2 pedestrians were killed by bicycle riders within the last 2 months. WHether they were fixies is not known. This is what triggered this. In one case the bike was riding against the flow of traffic and killed a 78 year old man. The other case the bicyclist fled and was not caught. More recently a women jogging had a fractured skull and again the cyclist fled. While I support cyslist rights I do not immediately side with the cyclist. In these 3 cases the riders were at fault


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## old_fuji (Mar 16, 2009)

Zipp0 said:


> Two years ago I was in *W. Philly* to help a friend move. There was a gang of about 150 shirtless, helmetless thugs RIPPING down the street on offroad motocross bikes and 4 wheelers. They rode right into traffic and dared anyone to do anything about it, pulling wheelies and all. I couldn't believe it.
> 
> And these MORONS are worried about fixed gear bicycles? Man, am I glad I don't live in that craphole.


would you describe these guys as "up to no good" and that they "started making trouble in your neighborhood?"


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

main line cycles said:


> outlaw *brakeless* fixed-gears


And the problem with that IS? What is the concern over getting a few brakeless idiots, who think laws don't apply to them, off the roads?


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## main line cycles (Nov 20, 2009)

and the problem with that is, it's not efficient governing. even if you assume brakeless fixed gears are inherently uncontrollable, the mass of a bike and rider makes them inherently less dangerous than cars, which is backed up by the low incidence of injury to pedestrians and damage to cars by at-fault cyclists. plunk down restrictive legislation in a city that _should_ be a cyclist's paradise (few hills, managable geographic area, managable weather), and you've got a recipe for more cars on the roads, which _is_ statistically dangerous. wanna flout statistics and go with anecdotes instead? i've got a nice girl named rachel you can talk to, who just had massive reconstructive surgery on her face because a car deliberately ran her off the road on thanksgiving day. oh yeah, she was on a geared road bike with brakes, with a helmet. 

way to stick up for other cyclists that don't ride exactly like you do. glad to have you on the team...


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

It's ILLEGAL to ride a bike with less brakes than the particular law calls for. What don't you understand about that? A fixed gear bike WITH a brake (mine has two) can stop faster than a fixed gear bike with no brake. I ride a brakeless fixed gear bike weekly on the track and a 2-brake one on the road and there's no comparison with stopping distances. If you don't agree then your beef isn't with the enforcement of the existing law; you should be working to CHANGE the law. Good luck with that.


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## russotto (Oct 3, 2005)

If you'd, you know, actually read the first post in the thread, you'd see there is no such existing law; it's a council proposal. Unfortunately pretty much any sort of restrictive legislation introduced in council gets passed eventually. Fortunately, enforcement will be nil after the first week.


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## Hooben (Aug 22, 2004)

*Ban Fixies? Whats next, road bikes, runners, golf. 
Give me a stinkin break. What we should ban is the automobile. *


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