Hi. I'm here from a bike forum where this thread has just been mentioned. I'm a cyclist, but also a pedestrian, a car driver and a lapsed motorcyclist. (I'm not a mum though, hope that's OK.) Most of my cycling is done off-road so I don't really have a particular dog in this race.
I'd like to thank the majority of posters for their sensible comments. Given the kicking cyclists generally get outside of their own special interest groups, it makes a refreshing change. There's a couple of things I'd like to add if I may.
On insurance: it might not be common knowledge but many cyclists do in fact have insurance. There are dedicated companies which do this and it's a sensible precaution not just for third party liability but for a cyclist's own protection. The nobber who's hacking round at night with no lights and wearing a black hoodie is unlikely to be insured but the guy you see on your commute every morning lycra'ed up and cycling to work almost certainly does.
On registration: this isn't viable simply because the people who really need to be displaying a registration number because they're riding like twats simply won't bother. If you can't catch someone who's just run a red light or knocked over a pedestrian, you're not going to catch them any easier for not having a reg number.
On road tax: this has been covered, but "road tax" hasn't paid for roads since the 1930s. It's an emissions tax, so even if road tax were applied to cyclists the cost would be £0 unless they'd been on the curry and real ale the night before. Even if none of this was relevant though, the "you don't pay road tax" argument would still be moot in most cases as most cyclists also own cars and do, in fact, pay road tax anyway.
On paying for cycling infrastructure: that's simply not how taxation works. My tax pays for many things I don't use. By that argument, I've never had a house fire, why should I be contributing towards the fire service?
On using cycling infrastructure (or as a few motorists like to call it, "get on the fucking cyclepath you twat"): We do when it's fit for purpose, which sadly is often not the case. No-one with half a brain ever chose to ride in traffic rather than use a cycle lane, but all too often what passes for cycle lanes are unrideable. (There's no law which says we have to use them incidentally, we're just legally forbidden from riding on pavements.)
On riding in the middle of the road: whilst this may be frustrating to drivers, it's considered good roadcraft to "ride in the primary position" to prevent overtaking when it's unsafe to do so - when passing a traffic island say - and to tuck back in to the side to allow easy overtaking when there's space to do so. Any motorcyclist will tell you this, it's taught as part of the test.
On riding two abreast (what someone called "tandem" earlier): this is really an extension of the previous point. It's perhaps counter-intuitive but if it's safe to overtake and there's two riders, it's quicker and easier for a car driver to overtake side-by-side riders than it is one-behind-the-other simply because what they're overtaking is a third as long.
On shared-use paths: I've saved this bug-bear for last, the clue is in the name. I've seen cyclists hoon down these things and it makes me want to stick a branch through their spokes, if only because these places attract quarterwits on foot like nowhere else. You can approach folk at barely-walking speed, ding your bell, and they still react like you've just materialised in the TARDIS or come at them like Barry Sheen. Riding down those things at speed is frankly mental, I don't know why people do it and I wish they didn't. Stop taking up the entire path, I'll roll past gently, everyone's happy and can go about their day.
I've long held that with any demographic, it's a minority that give the rest a bad name. Just like drivers, pedestrians (and TBH people generally), some cyclists are dicks. We hate those guys as much as you do. But it's the dicks you notice, and then confirmation bias kicks in. When was the last time you went home and told your DH about how great someone in front of you was driving? We don't notice all the thousands of sensible motorcyclists, just the power ranger who came screaming past you on one wheel this morning.
We're all people whatever our chosen method of transport. Some of us are dicks whatever our chosen method of transport. Please though, don't tar everyone with the same brush.
Thanks for reading this excessively long post. Be nice to each other, have a good day.