Grrrrr!

[Maz]

I spent a couple of minutes trying to explain Vehicle Excise Duty and where the money goes...

Out of interest, where does the money go, if it's not for the upkeep of roads? Does anyone know?

 

[RedBike]

I don't pay road tax for my car either. (classic car).

It hasn't actually been on the road for the past 2/3 years so i'm not sure if it's still tax exempt (I hope so!).

 

[RedBike]

I just thought. There are several new cars that are now tax exempt

 

[magnatom]

Out of interest, where does the money go, if it's not for the upkeep of roads? Does anyone know?

General taxation pot (whatever that is!). So you could argue that some of it will go towards the upkeep of the roads. However, the proportion will be the same as the amount of VAT, income tax etc that goes towards the roads.

 

[Nerazzurri]

Point her here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/index.htm

Couldn't stop laughing at some of those, very good mate.

Anyway, for the OP, forget trying to reason with her - people like that can't be reasoned with. All we can hope for is her two brain cells rubbing together, making her spontaneously combust, before she kills someone!

 

[PBancroft]

Out of interest, where does the money go, if it's not for the upkeep of roads? Does anyone know?

ISTR it just goes into the general government coffers, which is what I told her. This could be redistributed anywhere, so in fairness could filter back to councils for the upkeep of roads, but like most tax it just goes into one great big pot, which could pay for Pensions, Health, Education or whatever as much as it could pay for transport.

 

[Arch]

"That's even worse, because most cyclists live at home and they don't pay council tax"

Um. Don't most car drivers live at 'home' as well? Or are they so rich, they all live in hotels.... I live at home and pay council tax, because my home is, well, my home...

Daft cow. At least it sounds like she may have slightly come round to a little rational thought in the end.

Like the idea of a myths and rebuttals document too. Needs to be really snappy, get all the main points and answers on one page.

 

[magnatom]

So who is goint to start the thread, and who is going to pull it all together at the end? This could produce an entry into the cyclechat blog.

 

[Cab]

So who is goint to start the thread, and who is going to pull it all together at the end? This could produce an entry into the cyclechat blog.

You start it, I'll help by cropping it all down to a useful set of facts for the blog.

 

[Maz]

So who is goint to start the thread, and who is going to pull it all together at the end? This could produce an entry into the cyclechat blog.

I think Arch should do it. She's good at stuff like this and she's a good communicator.

 

[Cab]

I think Arch should do it. She's good at stuff like this and she's a good communicator.

I should think that it'll be pretty much collaborative between everyone contributing to be honest

 

[Maz]

I should think that it'll be pretty much collaborative between everyone contributing to be honest

Aye, for sure. I meant she might want to start it off and then others can chop n change, tweak, add etc.

 

[magnatom]

Aye, for sure. I meant she might want to start it off and then others can chop n change, tweak, add etc.

We will need someone to bring it all together in a single document at the end. I don't think I am the best person for that, so we need a volunteer......

I've started the thread, I assume someone will sticky it.

 

[dondare]

Lots of ways to answer this. Ask her how much less tax she thinks that cyclists pay, and if it's a lot why doesn't she just buy a bike?
Also ask how she came to be so ignorant and stupid.

 

[Monkey Boy]

I find myself agreeing with Mr. Oats again (sensible chap that Keith).

I went on one of those fluffy Dale Carnegie courses a few years back....'effective people management fluff' or somefink. One little nugget I learned is that sometimes you just cannot change people's behaviour or way of thinking...no matter how hard you try. You can only really change your own behaviour. It was a great learning point for me. So, when someone now comes away with some random stoooopidity and I know i cannot reason with them.....I can just shrug my shoulders, detatch myslef politely from the random stoooopidness and walk away.

No point getting upset / frustrated / or feel the need to stick a pick-axe down their spinal column...just think, yeah...whateveeeer.