It’s time to test, license and collect fees from bicyclists who want to ride in Iowa on anything beyond a recreational trail.

This thought took shape  the other night as I logged some miles on the small and hard seat of my bicycle. That may cause you to wonder where my brain is, but I’ve been asking myself the same question about a group that calls itself Citizens for Safety Coalition of Iowa.

This group hopes Iowa legislators will support a ballot initiative in November 2010 that would prohibit bicyclists from using state and most county roads.

Voters aren’t likely to see such an initiative on their ballots next year. And they shouldn’t. It would represent a classic case of swatting flies with a sledgehammer.

Banning bicycles on these roads would be a bad idea for many reasons. Among them are the gallons of fuel not used whenever someone rides a bike instead of driving a car or truck. There are also health benefits to biking, which is important in Iowa, where 26 percent of residents were classified by the federal government last year as obese.

We should encourage even more Iowans to ride bikes even more often. Unfortunately, the Citizens for Safety Coalition is doing exactly the opposite of that goal.

Instead of banning bikes, I propose that everyone who wants to ride on a county, state or federal road in Iowa should have to complete:

* A course that would touch on everything from safety (wearing a helmet, riding to the right) to bike maintenance, including how to fix a flat tire.

* An online assessment that would then qualify them to pay an annual fee for a bike license and registration.

If I could, I would make this a requirement and part of the registration for everyone who participates in the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. And I would use part of the revenue generated by the fees each year to fund the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, freeing up its staff to focus on education and safety instead of grant writing and fundraising.

This idea would take away the main criticisms of the Citizens for Safety Coalition and other critics who say bicyclists don’t belong on roads because they aren’t regulated and don’t pay to help maintain roads.

It would also be a better way to spread the gospel of bike safety if everyone who bikes in Iowa is required to take a class, pass a test and get a license. The Iowa Bicycle Coalition can make all kinds of videos about riding right. The videos won’t do a bit of good if no one watches them.

Many bicyclists will be quick to disagree with me. I don’t expect the proponents of banning bicycles to agree with me either.

And that helps explain how we have reached such an angry impasse —too many people in both camps are unwilling to consider the other side’s point of view.

The fact is there are too many bicyclists who act as if they just took the training wheels off. They weave around, ride three and four abreast in their lane of the road and don’t pull into a single file when in traffic with cars and trucks.

There are even more bad drivers out there than there are bad bicyclists only because the number of Iowans who drive is greater than the number who bike.

It’s time for both sides to stop pointing fingers, figure how to coexist and give up goofy ideas such as trying to ban bikes from Iowa’s roads.

Reach Editor Chris Steinbach at 563-262-0535 or chris.steinbach@muscatinejournal.com.