Should cyclists need third-party insurance and a visible ID number so they can be identified?
Cyclists in the UK face no legal requirement to hold third-party insurance or display any form of visible ID number or registration plate. Many obtain optional third-party liability cover worth £10-20 million through membership of Cycling UK or British Cycling. As of 2026 the Government has no plans to introduce compulsory insurance or a national registration scheme for cyclists, citing high costs, complexity and limited safety gains compared with motor vehicles.
5 Opinions
An ID plate on bikes, e-bikes and scooters might help in addressing bad riders, with unplayed bikes seized. Children’s bikes would need exemptions.
This doesn't seem practical and would add a lot of bureaucracy. Would also discourage occasional users from using public ebikes or giving a bike a go once in a while. Police should work on alternate methods for enforcing and encouraging existing bike safety laws.
Obviously, yes. The fact that we don't have this already is ludicrous. And on a related matter. If my mate Gary can get his DJI drone to follow him on his bike rides, why can't the police use a tracking drone to catch thieves on scooters without resorting to hazardous high-speed pursuits?
I'm saying no but jostled a lot, frankly something needs to be done to appropriately sanction d*cks on bikes but licencing and insurance seems unenforceable and irreconcilable with the British native culture of 'boys on bikes' that seems to bring a tear to old c*nts eyes for some strange reason, like football and the other childhood nonsense British men carry into adulthood, one hand down their pants and the other up their nose. But it's their culture so let them have it?
Plenty of cyclists are insufferable morons but they are much less deadly than car drivers and we need to be encouraging more people to ditch the cars and cycle instead.