Should cyclists pay road tax?

[eddie1968]

Well I am off to see my Consultant Surgeon at 2.30pm, later dudes and dudettes lol

 

[DeejayR]

Why would cycling disappear? Did cars disappear when the driving test and compulsory insurance came into effect?

That would be in the early 1930s. Cars were a wealthy person's privilege. Drivers behaved as if they owned the road because quite often they did. Cars were heavy, dangerous and not very safe. They do far more damage than bicycles. They were also a huge financial opportunity for British business and government.
Bicycles are none of those. British expertise is involved in the bike world but you aren't usually going to attract middle eastern or Russian investment in a bike factory. (Chinese, maybe?) Cycling is a fragile means of transport today in more ways than one and any moves to impose extra cost on cyclists will kill it off as mass transport and leave a few thousand brave road-race riders with the dosh to pay a comparatively small extra sum on top of their expensive machines. So much for cycling for the masses.
Off-road biking ... now there's a different matter. We should all do it.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Off-road biking ... now there's a different matter. We should all do it.

as long as it's not on narrow public footpaths!

 

[DeejayR]

as long as it's not on narrow public footpaths!

No, no, in the countryside, bridleways where no man or horse sets foot/hoof very much

 

[Kat100]

Better cycle lanes and footpaths for all and roads ...etc etc ...dare I say it , oooo I have

 

[NicolaB70]

I suppose I'm pretty lucky where I live. My town has over 45km of cycle tracks/ routes all over and you can cycle from one end of town to the other without having to cycle on the roads. Industrial areas, local amenities, etc are all accessible via them as well. They are kept well maintained by the local council. What used to annoy me was when I used to cycle to work using the cycle tracks, the amount of times people used to shout abuse at me for riding on them because they had to move out the way!, I wouldn't of minded though but pedestrian footpaths are adjacent to the cycle tracks. I think they thought that I was in the wrong for riding a bike on a designated cycling track, not them!!

 

[DeejayR]

I have a little ting-ting bell. I believe they are fashionable with joggers as well.
I saw a video of a bicycle with an electric cow horn on it. Might be worth an investment.

 

[copepod]

I have cycled since I was a teenager and driven since I was 30 years old. Obviously, I've also been a passenger in various vehicles. I have never caused an accident when driving or cycling, but once in UK a German lorry drive into my car [he was in wrong lane of roundabout and didn't look carefully enough given that he was a left hand drive vehicle driving on left side of road], once a car driver opened his door without looking and made a 9cm gash in my upper left arm, buckled my bike wheel, torn T short sleeve, broke my watch and lost me an evening's babysitting work [in Cambridge. where drivers can't complain that cyclists are unusual, and I did allow as much space as I could, approaching traffic lights]. When I fell off a bike on a potholed road in Newfoundland, the problem was thjat my friend hadn't tightened her handlebars, and I hadn't checked, so ended up with 4 stitches in my left elbow.

Whenever I chose to cycle instead of drive my car, I am saving emissions that I would otherwise produce and my impact on the surfaces I use is far less. My Vehicle Excise Duty [not Road Tax!] is paid regardless of how much I use my car.






;

 

[Fallgal]

and they share the dusty roads with cars, elephants, stray dogs, cows, pedestrians, no road markings, no highway code rules, driving on whichever side of the road they fancy at the time!

I've seen that BBC series "Toughest Place to be a ........." and one was (if I recall correctly) a bus driver in India. Scary!!

 

[JTL]

Not sure what all the fuss is about emissions.
Lets face it ... we know without any doubt that everything combustible under the ground in the rocks in the desert below the ocean floors on mountain tops ... will be extracted and burned.
Fracking is all the proof we need to see we will wring every last drop out of the earth and burn it.
Car manufacturers have put quite a bit of effort into making stuff burn cleaner run cleaner run further .... always room for improvement of course but .... it's all going up into the skies unless someone comes up with something as cheap and efficient as natural gas and oil ... no sign of yet.

 

[Robinredbreast]

I would love to go to Amsterdam, especially the cycling, and going to visit the museums and other places of interest or sitting by a cafe, people watching, it's the simple things I like, maybe some day soon

 

[dannyw]

As someone mentioned earlier, no such thing as road tax now, it's vehicle excise duty. There has been a bit of a surge in popularity recently in cycling due to the likes of Wiggins, Hoy etc. This needs to be encouraged and generally is. We should be promoting the increased use of cycles and thus hopefully reducing the number of cars on the road. This would increase health of the nation and cut emissions.
For these reasons, I would not advocate taxing cyclists. Another argument would be policing it. Cars etc have registration plates which enables police to check if duty has been paid. How would this work on bikes ? Would you want every single bicycle to have a registration number ? I feel the costs involved in this would far outweigh any token amount we would expect a cyclist to pay.

 

[JTL]

I'd be all for encouraging bikes in city centres and towns that are flat enough but still want bikes banned from roads with an above thirty speed limit.

 

[noblehead]

They used to have safety courses for cyclists and there used to be a safety proficiency course.

They still do the cycle proficiency test in schools.

 

[Blondie153]

Fantastic photos love the nighttime one

 

[Mike d]

They should all wear number plates (large) printed on fluro vests that they must also wear. It's easy to fine a driver and should be the same for cyclists. Only concession is that if you cycle and drive, the annual rego for your two wheeler should be halved.

 

[Scandichic]

They still use the road.

They don't cause any damage but as its already been pointed out, they've probably contributed to the cost of the road through their general tax.

 

[Scandichic]

What I object to are cyclists using designated public footpaths in our rural area, especially a narrow path alongside our river where we and many others walk our dogs. The bikes don't seem to be fitted with bells, or if they are they aren't used. They come up silently behind us and shout out "excuse me" or some such thing. This un-nerves the dog, and I have no idea they are there until I hear them shout, when it is too late to just stand aside. Many a time I have had to use all my balancing facilities to avoid falling in the river. Do they stop to allow you to stand aside? Do they heck. Same with joggers. These aren't isolated incidents, they happen all the time. Very annoying.

Is the path for pedestrians only or do other people have right of way (cyclists, horse riders)? There are many inconsiderate dog walkers out there too who allow their dogs to jump up at passerbys or have their extendable leads out accross the path. There are idiots in all walks of life and I don't think it's fair to single out one specific group. Perhaps we could just be able to gather them all up and send them to room 101? We could send @Mike D cyclist who nearly ran him over, I'll send the idiot who threw a milkshake at Mr Scandi and you could nominate a particularly irritating jogger? All other suggestions welcome but only individuals!

 

[Scandichic]

hmm.... can't say I'm a fan of their children riding in a basket!

Where is your spirit of adventure? Admit it - as a kid you would have loved it!

 

[Scandichic]

I'd be all for encouraging bikes in city centres and towns that are flat enough but still want bikes banned from roads with an above thirty speed limit.

As all tax payers pay for the roads then we all have the right to use the road!