Dont leave home without ID

[Trekhawk]

[QUOTE=Technotart}
I ordered the little metal engraved dog tags.

Technotart - I have one of those and it has all my emergency phone numbers, insurance info, blood group etc. It makes me feel so much better riding knowing if I crash or something they will have all the info they need.

I dont carry any other form of ID - that was pretty much the idea behind the roadid I thought so that you would not have to carry other stuff.

Anyway as I said at the beginning of this thread Im claiming aussie ignorance and leaving my drivers license at home.

[MomOnBike]

I think we have two different issues/concerns going here.

One, I really don't want to think that I always have to carry proof of identity with me. I thought that sort of thing went out with the Soviet Union, and never applied here in the US of A, anyway. humph So I don't. Unless I have my wallet along for other reasons.

From my rather cursury reading of the article in question, the guy probably needed to be pulled over for a bunch of other reasons (riding the one way down a wrong-way street, meth, Gawd only knows what else...), and the cop just added the no papers part as a "being-ugly-in-public" charge. That is, an extra just to make the list longer and more impressive for the judge.

I think I'm just as happy that the guy is off the streets. I don't want people to see me and think "Meth!" when I'm out and about on my bike.

Carrying ID for the EMTs is another issue altogether. We all should. (slinking away guiltily...)

[RTP1031]

I blew up my license a little on a copy machine. I also blew up my insurance card (so I had space to add all my emergency information numbers), placed them back to back and had it laminated. It fits in my underseat bag easily and doesn't get crushed.

[jeannierides]

Maybe it's just me, but that article seemed to be about more than just ID requirements. Having an ID with you is always a good idea, as is obeying the laws. We, as cyclists, are subject to all the same laws as an automobile, so riding our bikes the wrong way on a one way street is a *no-no*. But the article's author seemed to be taking the question a bit further in talking about our basic rights. The fact that a police person can simply decide to arrest you for something like that at his/her discretion is disturbing to me. Citation, yes, arrest....ummmm. Maybe there was something more about the arrest than the article says, but failure to produce an ID doesn't seem to be a good reason to arrest then search a person. I'm not too fond of the idea of the guy having methamphetamines either, but not too sure the *road* to his arrest was a good one.

I like the idea of the photocopies of important papers, though.

[roughingit]

Yeah, one of the other forums I frequent is a homesteading forum where there are not only people interested in self-sufficiency, but also people concerned with personal freedom. The requirements to have ID and the whole RealID act are frequently discussed topics.

Now, I can see that we as cyclists must follow the rules of the road. So must scooters and pedestrians for that matter (jaywalking anyone?) Carrying ID, however, is a completely different story. In a car, you have to carry a liscence, this isn't quite the same thing. Sure, your DL also serves as ID, but it's primary functions is to show that you are qualified to drive (otherwise I could just flash an my military ID at em and call it good, eh?) While I find it a good idea to have emergency contact numbers on you and all, I find it a bit much to demand legal ID as if we were uynder some kind of martial law. On base, I would expect to be carrying said ID because bases are under martial (military) law, but not out and about in the civilian world!