Chat with a taxi driver

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yorkshiregoth said:
Egyptian taxi drivers anyone? Very scary!!

Very very scary. Was in Sharm El Sheik last last and witnessed several taxis going the wrong way up a dual carriageway:ohmy:
 

wafflycat

New Member
pbjohnson said:
Maybe its something to do with a 'right to be on the road' - car drivers, taxi drivers, buses etc all pay tax. Would it make a difference if cyclists paid some form of road tax? Maybe, just maybe, it would add weight to the inevitable argument that "I have as much right to be on the road as you"

Paul
actioncamerasblog.com

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

1. There is no such thing as road tax, as
2. There is no tax where the funds generated from it are specifically used to pay for roads
3. Roads are paid for out of general taxation.
4. Hence those who are tax payers and are not car owners/drivers are paying for the roads.
5. When we are motoring (and I am a motorist) we do not have a *right* to be on the road, we have a *licence* which is less than a legal right. Pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders have a *right* to use the highway. When in motorist mode we do *not* have a 'right' to be using the road.
 
OP
OP
M

magnatom

Guest
Go easy on Paul guys, he's on our side. You just have a lot to learn. But I feel this one is strong in the force....;)

Seriously though, Paul, as the others have said. Recent studies have apparently shown that cyclists on average earn more. Thus on average we pay more tax, and thus on average we pay more towards the roads.

The only difference is, that we don't wear them out (unless we collide with it ;))

:angry:
 

lazyfatgit

Guest
Location
Lawrence, NSW
pbjohnson said:
Maybe its something to do with a 'right to be on the road' - car drivers, taxi drivers, buses etc all pay tax. Would it make a difference if cyclists paid some form of road tax? Maybe, just maybe, it would add weight to the inevitable argument that "I have as much right to be on the road as you"

Paul
actioncamerasblog.com

I had this very same discussion at lunch with some workmates.

I thought i made most of the points mentioned in this thread, and everybody eventually seemed to agree.

However, when I asked if I had paid some form of licence or tax for my bike, would I get more room or respect on the road, concensus (sp) seemd to be that I was still a pain in the arse cyclist.:biggrin:
 
OP
OP
M

magnatom

Guest
bonj said:
where've you got this from? Not denying it, just curious


Hmm, now your asking. I can't remember where I heard it (although I am sure it was quoted in the news or CTC or something like that). Does anyone else have a reference for that! It would be worthwhile to have the original reference to quote.
 

pbjohnson

New Member
Location
Surrey
Ok, so the use of the term road tax was incorrect. But regardless of a 'right' to be on the road or license paying, there is a perception amonst a good deal of motorists that cyclists are a pain.

The thread was about how drivers can be educated.

My point was that one deals with the perception first. If that perception is that cyclists do not have the same rights to be on the roads as cars then what could be done to change that? My suggestion of taxation, while clumbsy, was meant to illustrate that there could be some public way of cyclists claiming ownership of the road via the media.

For all of the clear irritation my suggestion has caused the facts still remain - lots of motorists do not think cyclists have a 'right' to be on the road. I was trying to expore ways that might be addressed.

I'll get my coat!
 

4F

Active member of Helmets Are Sh*t Lobby
Location
Suffolk.
Paul you are probably right in that a lot of car drivers do not think that cyclists should not be on the road much like they think that tractors and lorries should not be on the road either if they are are seen to be holding up these very self important people.

I don't think you will ever change the attitude of the type of motorists who always seems to be in a hurry and gets stressed by any percieved slow vehicle delaying their speed to get to the next queue of traffic

Personally I don't give a monkeys whether they think I should be on the road or not, I know I am and they can wait.
 

jashburnham

New Member
arranandy said:
Very very scary. Was in Sharm El Sheik last last and witnessed several taxis going the wrong way up a dual carriageway:ohmy:

Seconded! Was there in September and the cabbie scared the cr@p out of me. However the Egyptians have nothing on the Jamaican cabbies - they're insane, overtaking on blind bends etc and all whilst practically lying down, one hand on the wheel and turning to chat to you. Gambian cabbies are equally bad mind.
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
I think the key lies in humanising the cyclist as a person rather than a knob on a bike. In the same way that some cyclists could do with thinking of motorists as people rather than "cagers". How we do that, me not know. Maybe jackets with "I have a wife and two kids" or "I am 32 please don't kill me" etc!

Interested in that demographic too Magna. When I did the Etape Caledonia last year, I'd estimate that the average age of participants was somewhere around 40, higher than I would have thought. Cycling is an expensive hobby to get going in so I suppose it would attract people with higher disposable income. Mind you, the number of BMWs, Audis, Mercs, 4x4s etc I see on the roads these days seems to have increased and suffice to say I can't buy one of them!

BTW on the same note, a taxi to the train station?! Good grief you must be minted!
 
well i dont know if any of you remember me,i used to go on the old cycling + forum under the name of urrrrrrrrrrrs, i was the london taxi driver
who sort of crossed over to the DARKSIDE:biggrin: and go into this g-d damned cycling lark,i have been away and now i am BACK !!! not bigger and better than before but,lighter and better than before....


Basically joined a club (Kingston Wheelers, and click on introducing for Feb 2008) and with the help of them have lost 4 1/2 stone since last August,can readily ride 60+ miles and now weigh in at 17 stone dead !!! and hoping to get aroumd RP in 1hr by my birthday at the end of july.

I am collecting my new bike this friday a spesh roubaix expert with a triple and will be entering the etape this year for the first time,;).I am entering it to celebrate the end of my remission for the Big C(testicular),which I was diagnosed with 10 years ago today at the age of 26 and raise as much money as possible for the Institute of Cancer Research/Everyman Charity)

So please have it in your heart to talk to me and welcome me back into the bosom of the cycling community:smile:
 

4F

Active member of Helmets Are Sh*t Lobby
Location
Suffolk.
[
Urrrrrrrs welcome and well done with the weight loss. You always seemed decent enough on C+ despite being a cabby ;)
 
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