This is one of those “zombie issues” that rises up again every few years — bike licensing. ”Every city that has looked at it says it costs too much to run … If your actual goal is to have less people on bikes and more people in cars, then it would succeed.” www.theglobeandmail.com/drive/cultur...
Anything that makes cycling more difficult, including licensing requirements or tearing out bike lanes, will increase the number of cars on the road and make it less safe for cyclists, pedestrians and...
IMO the discussion is fairly quickly resolved by instead asking "Why do cars require licensing, but not skateboards, scooters, or running?" As soon as one faithfully considers the reasoning behind driver's licenses, it becomes clear that only the most extreme e-bikes could warrant a comparison.
Also, Most of us are! I would like to potentially see <16 youth have a bit of a training class before they can get a class 2 ebike. Probably best taught in school.
If we end up requiring licensing, I probably won't get one. I'll continue to bicycle though. I'll be a bicycle outlaw! Only outlaws will have bicycles! 🚲 Eventually they'll catch me, rinse & repeat - because I'm not ever going to stop bicycling.
Of course, the answer to that question is "because the instant automobiles become common, drivers began causing huge amounts of injury, death, and property damage. So a system was put in place to try to reduce these events and make someone at least financially accountable when they did.