Road Tax - for cyclists !!!!

[Twanger]

Just as a matter of interest - does the Scottish government have any tax raising powers?

 

[GAVSTER]

Just as a matter of interest - does the Scottish government have any tax raising powers?

Yep.

The devolved administration in Scotland has the power to raise (or lower) tax by 3p.

Swinney didn't equivocate on the Politics Show and made it clear he was against this proposal. It looks like like this was a wizard wheeze dreamt up by civil servants.

However, if we are to get a better route between Fife and Edinburg via the path on the A90 it will have to be Mr Swinney that would intervene as the local authorities appear to have washed their hands.

Rather than civil servants thinking about taxing cyclists it would be better to improve facilities for us.

There was a news piece last week that said Scots were less likely to ditch using cars than any other part of the UK.

So come on Mr Swinney - invest in cycling you know it makes sense :-)

 

[Gromit]

I would gladly pay road tax for using my bike on the road, if it would mean that I was able to take up my rightful place in the centre of a lane without hassle from drivers in their little boxes. If I thought that it would earn me some respect.

However in the grater scheme of things it wouldn't, they would still expect us to cycle in the gutter over taking us as close as they possibly can. Nothing would change their view.

 

[GrasB]

My angle (as always) but reading this differently - it is a new tax for road use, not assimilating cyclists into the present system.

Fair enough but the thing is, the systems have to be seen as fair to all road users. If you charge cyclists for using the road what about these VED exempt cars? I mean they have a bigger impact on road wear, congestion & the environment so why should I pay some form of VED & owners of 0 VED cars not?

 

[marinyork]

Fair enough but the thing is, the systems have to be seen as fair to all road users. If you charge cyclists for using the road what about these VED exempt cars? I mean they have a bigger impact on road wear, congestion & the environment so why should I pay some form of VED & owners of 0 VED cars not?

We could shout at car users that we pay road tax and they don't (they only pay ved) so they should get off 'our' roads ?

 

[gaz]

We could shout at car users that we pay road tax and they don't (they only pay ved) so they should get off 'our' roads ?

lmao! most of them wouldn't understand the difference.

 

[andrew-the-tortoise]

Hovercars & bikes would also be VED exempt due to lack of contact with road, hence no wear an tear.

 

[Bollo]

Thought about writing a diatribe but ended up just thinking.....

*yawn*

Cheap popularism. Ignore.

 

[PBancroft]

What good could any politician possibly think would come from saying something like this? Even if Bollo is right and it was a populism angle he was going for its pretty blatant that it unworkable without either incurring some pretty steep costs, or increasing tax on other vehicles in line as it would indubitably reveal that VED hardly covers the costs of road building and maintenance anyway (along with the cost to society of road casualties, policing, etc).

Either way the plan would be scrapped, amidst calls of a "U-Turn" and the party in question would be a laughing stock for all of, ooooh, 3 seconds.

 

[mercurykev]

This morning John Swinney was asked about whether there were plans to introduce such a tax and he gave a simple, one word answer: No.

I think that it is a SoS non-story.

 

[ufkacbln]

Fair enough but the thing is, the systems have to be seen as fair to all road users. If you charge cyclists for using the road what about these VED exempt cars? I mean they have a bigger impact on road wear, congestion & the environment so why should I pay some form of VED & owners of 0 VED cars not?

Which is why my cycnical mind thinks this would be extended to the other vehicles.

 

[dellzeqq]

they're bringing back radio licenses and dog licenses as well......

 

[XmisterIS]

*sigh*

Completely uninforceable, never going to happen, unless we become a fascist dictatorship.

I live near Portsmouth - it's the Buckland "Tennants Super" Chav Kackers who ride round like knobs on their Cash Converter mountain bikes ... and can you imagine them paying road tax? I think not ...

EDIT: See this post on our very own forum - http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/blog/2009/05/why-do-cyclists-not-pay-road-tax/ I think that just about sums it up nicely!

 

[PBancroft]

EDIT: See this post on our very own forum - http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/blog/2009/05/why-do-cyclists-not-pay-road-tax/ I think that just about sums it up nicely!

Ooooh - I wrote that! Ta very much!

 

[BikeShapedObject]

BIKE TAX!!!!! JESUS WEPT!!!! If this NONSENSE ever comes to the streets of England and Wales, I shall have no alternative but to BLOW UP PARLIAMENT.