Those of us who commute on two wheels often face tense situations with drivers, pedestrians, other cyclists and even police officers who don’t know about the ways that bikes can legally travel on city streets.

Now, imagine what cyclists whose bikes are four feet wide and hauling between one and three passengers must go through.

An ordinance now on the table in Chicago would impose some of the strictest regulations on pedicabs — those three-wheeled, human-powered bike taxis — proposed anywhere in recent years.

Legislation introduced by Alderman Tom Tunney would cap the number of pedicabs in the city at 200, the Chicago Sun Times reported last week. Pedicabs would also have to post fares, provide seatbelts, buy licenses that cost $250 a year, sport $25 decals and show proof of workers’ compensation. Those that don’t meet these standards could face impoundment.

Naturally, pedicab owners in the Windy City have called Tunney’s proposal excessive, arguing that the new rules would discourage a clean and efficient form of transportation.

“This is a non-polluting, emission-free vehicle,” one owner told the Sun Times. “Every city in the world needs that.”

Pedicabs, also known as cycle rickshaws, have always existed in a gray area of urban transportation planning — indeed, a local radio station reports that Chicago has no rules on the books regarding pedicabs. One might assume they would be subjected to the same rules as motorized taxicabs, since in most cities personal cyclists (theoretically) follow the same rules and enjoy the same legal treatment as any car on the road.

But, as some have argued that personal cyclists have their own set of needs and thus warrant their own regulations, so too do the unique demands on pedicab drivers mean that they might flourish the best under a distinct set of laws.

For instance, the matter of posting fares gets complicated once you take into account how the number of passengers, not to mention their weights, affects how fast a pedicab can travel. Even a strong wind can slow down a pedicab and thus keep passengers in their seats for longer.

This means, as the pedicab owner explained to the Sun Times, that a 15-minute ride could cost anywhere between $10 and $30. Since motorized cabs don’t have the same issue, they don’t need this kind of flexibility with their fares. Most pedicab drivers negotiate fares with passengers before beginning the ride.

The informal nature of the pedicab business means that news stories about local authorities trying to find appropriate regulations for vehicles appear with regularity. This month the Santa Monica City Council voted to require pedicabs in the California city to have a business license and pay permit fees, as well as forbid them from traveling on a popular beachside bike path. In April, lawmakers in Scottsdale, Ariz. approved an ordinance that prohibits pedicabs on streets with speed limits of more than 35 miles per hour. First-time violators face a $150 fine.

Local officials in Washington, D.C., where pedicabs have proven popular among tourists, mandated in 2011 that the cabs be equipped with safety devices usually found on cars: Seatbelts, headlights, tail lights and turning signals. D.C. pedicabs also cannot travel on roads with speed limits exceeding 30 miles per hour.

Last fall New York City councilmembers, in an effort to protect tourists from price gouging, passed regulations that require pedicabs to charge by the minute using a visible timer. Having this sort of meter system could help ensure that pedicabs charge fares appropriate to their load and the weather, while making sure passengers don’t get cheated.