Myths and Rebuttals

[hoopdriver]

Nobody pays road tax. Nobody at all. Not cars, not bicycles, not horses, not anybody. It doesn't exist and has not existed in any form in Britain since 1937, and even then it was a minor impost covering certain local roads. The money that is extorted from motorists and which they so bitterly resent is Vehicle Emission Duty (VED) and is based on carbon emissions. Even if VED was extended to include bicycles we would still be paying zero - as indeed do a good many motorists who drive low-emissions cars.

 

[Jehannum]

Sorry, but VED is Vehicle Excise Duty. It has only reletively recently been linked to vehicle emmisions. Please, let's not start creating more misnomers about "car tax".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Excise_Duty

 

[downfader]

Sorry, but VED is Vehicle Excise Duty. It has only reletively recently been linked to vehicle emmisions. Please, let's not start creating more misnomers about "car tax".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Excise_Duty

It isnt a misnomer when it is a condition they have to adhere to. It doesnt matter what it used to be, its what it is now that counts - as i said before - people dont still bang on about window tax or poll tax - they know its council tax (and they know why they pay it)

 

[benb]

I was cycling in the Netherlands a couple of weeks ago, and a policeman told us we had to use the path if one existed (although he was very nice about it, and didn't give us aggro)

 

[BentMikey]

I was cycling in the Netherlands a couple of weeks ago, and a policeman told us we had to use the path if one existed (although he was very nice about it, and didn't give us aggro)

That is why the Quest and Mango are made 76.5cm wide - under 75cm and bicycles have to use the path, over, and they don't.

 

[benb]

That is why the Quest and Mango are made 76.5cm wide - under 75cm and bicycles have to use the path, over, and they don't.

So next time, I'll strap a piece of 76cm wide wood to my bike!

 

[hoopdriver]

Sorry, but VED is Vehicle Excise Duty. It has only reletively recently been linked to vehicle emmisions. Please, let's not start creating more misnomers about "car tax".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Excise_Duty

Yes but it IS linked to emissions, recently or not. There is nothing misleadng about that!

 

[User269]

Myth: "You don't pay road tax so..."

Rebuttal: It doesn't matter what follows the above statemet. No, we don't pay road tax, but neither does a motorist.

Yes we do. All roads except motorways and some trunk roads are paid for out of your council tax.

 

[hoopdriver]

Yes we do. All roads except motorways and some trunk roads are paid for out of your council tax.

That is not a road tax.

 

[Ian Cooper]

I was cycling in the Netherlands a couple of weeks ago, and a policeman told us we had to use the path if one existed (although he was very nice about it, and didn't give us aggro)

Here we see the reality of the Netherlands bicycle dystopia: the police tell you nicely that you can't cycle on a perfectly good road. Sounds awesome!

He was nice about it, but the reality is that he's not going to allow you to use the road.

 

[benb]

Here we see the reality of the Netherlands bicycle dystopia: the police tell you nicely that you can't cycle on a perfectly good road. Sounds awesome!

He was nice about it, but the reality is that he's not going to allow you to use the road.

I agree it's wrong, but the cycle lanes are at least good enough to use without feeling like a second class citizen.

 

[Ian Cooper]

I agree it's wrong, but the cycle lanes are at least good enough to use without feeling like a second class citizen.

I'm sure the back of the bus was a perfectly fine place to sit, and I'm sure many black people in the age of US racial segregation didn't feel like sitting there made them second-class citizens. But you don't have to feel discrimination for it to exist.

The problem is not that bike paths in the Netherlands aren't usable. It's that we don't have a choice not to use them.

 

[Simba]

Cyclists create emissions, CO2 from breathing out and methane from farting.

 

[BentMikey]

...and from the environmental effects of bike manufacture, maintenance, and transport of parts.

 

[Jehannum]

It isnt a misnomer when it is a condition they have to adhere to. It doesnt matter what it used to be, its what it is now that counts - as i said before - people dont still bang on about window tax or poll tax - they know its council tax (and they know why they pay it)

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean there: it's a misnomer because it's not Vehicle Emissions Duty, it's Vehicle Excise Duty. Perhaps I mean malaproprism, not misnomer? I just wanted to make clear what the letters stand for. Just because other people use the wrong term for something, doesn't make it right, and if we're going to use the argument "no-one pays road tax" we should try to get our terminology correct elsewhere too, surely.

I don't dispute that it is related to emissions. Perhaps I wan't clear enough in not disputing that.