You won't need to register that bike

Do you own a bicycle? If you do, you're probably in violation of a city ordinance.

Mayor Bill White breaks this law. Thousands of innocent children could be implicated. You, dear reader, may be in violation and not even know it.

The city finally is cracking down on bicyclists' rampant disregard of the registration law -- by getting rid of the law.

City officials and bike enthusiasts all seem to agree that it's a silly, outdated ordinance that is all but impossible to enforce.

The City Council could vote to strike the law from the books on Wednesday.

The law requires owners to register their two-wheelers at a local fire station for $1 and place a little license sticker on the bike.

"This is something that I think is sporadically done," said Randy Zamora, the city's chief prosecutor. "And I think the firemen have better things to do."

Hard to argue with that. I have to say, it never would have occurred to me that this was a requirement. If we had such a thing in New York when I was growing up, I was a scofflaw. Whatever the reason was for passing this law back in 1968 - the article says no one really knows, and I guess there's no one left around to ask - it clearly serves no useful purpose now

Discarding the bike registration law is part of an ongoing overhaul of the city's permit process, said Alfred Moran, the director of Administration & Regulatory Affairs.

Houston issues 260 permits out of nine separate departments, but officials are working to streamline the application process. The city might build a one-stop permit center and is working to get all permit forms and applications online.

While they're at it, I hope they review other permits and such to see if more of them should be dumped like this one. If it doesn't make sense, if you can't think of a compelling reason to keep it, get rid of it.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 29, 2008 to Local politics