Road tax

[Psycolist]

I am amazed at such a 'fact of life' issue has raised so many responses and comments. I have cycled for in excess of 50 years, and cant bring to mind a single instance when comments about my not paying towards the up keep of the road ever having been made in my direction. Wether it be called a tax or duty, is irrelevant to Joe Public. Every driver hates paying for petrol, insurance and his road fund licence, just like everyone hates paying tax and insurance on thier incomes. My outlook is simple, why waste energy and effort, worrying about something I cant change. Just enjoy the ride.......if y'getme

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

Wether it be called a tax or duty, is irrelevant to Joe Public.

"Tax" isn't the issue; duty is a form of tax anyway. "Road" is the issue. The point is that everyone has the right to go on the road for free ("right of way"), You just have to pay VED (or "Car Tax") if you want to bring a motor vehicle along with you when you do. (And for some motor vehicles, the rate is zero.)

 

[ufkacbln]

I had a muppet in the pub who came up with this one, so I pointed out that I own a large vehicle in VED Band J, as his vehicle was only Band D, I therefore paid more road tax than him.... did that mean that he head to get out of my way when I was driving?

Apparently that is a very silly suggestion!

 

[downfader]

I am amazed at such a 'fact of life' issue has raised so many responses and comments. I have cycled for in excess of 50 years, and cant bring to mind a single instance when comments about my not paying towards the up keep of the road ever having been made in my direction. Wether it be called a tax or duty, is irrelevant to Joe Public. Every driver hates paying for petrol, insurance and his road fund licence, just like everyone hates paying tax and insurance on thier incomes. My outlook is simple, why waste energy and effort, worrying about something I cant change. Just enjoy the ride.......if y'getme

I am glad that it has never been shouted, or even put to you, but to many of us it has - sometimes with the added joy of the vehicle being thrown into out direction.

The fact of the matter is that this little myth IS being used by the motoring lobby to change cycling (look at AL Private Hire boss Griffin as one example, Transport and Safety minister Penning MP as another, even previous Transport Secretary Philip Hammond who used "road tax" to lure the motoring vote before the elections, even look at the advertising and campaigns of Fiat and Ford in the UK and you get some sense of this, not to mention people like FairFuelUK and the ABD).

It is being used as a lever to change the roads at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists, even horse riders. Terms such as "traffic smoothing" are often used when talking about crossings, for one, in that traffic must not be delayed for too long - often at the expense of pedestrians who get a limited time to cross. Parking, too has even become a major issue for elections and councils because of this lobby.

I had a muppet in the pub who came up with this one, so I pointed out that I own a large vehicle in VED Band J, as his vehicle was only Band D, I therefore paid more road tax than him.... did that mean that he head to get out of my way when I was driving?

Apparently that is a very silly suggestion!

Exactly, my mate at work drives an LGV for a living. If its "true" for us, then its "true" for them that they too must get out of the way of the next rung on the ladder of the elite.

 

[mr_cellophane]

According to direct.gov it is Vehicle Tax
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/motoring/owningavehicle/howtotaxyourvehicle/dg_10012524

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

Do zero emission vehicles like Prius's's's carry a disk with a '£0.00' on it?
If so, perhaps us cycling critters can be issued with the same thing

 

[ufkacbln]

Do zero emission vehicles like Prius's's's carry a disk with a '£0.00' on it?
If so, perhaps us cycling critters can be issued with the same thing

So do those registered as disabled

 

[mr_cellophane]

Do zero emission vehicles like Prius's's's carry a disk with a '£0.00' on it?

Yes they do. They still need to be sorn'ed if taken off the road.
I believe the 6 month fee is £5. Although why anyone would do that is beyond me.

 

[gaz]

Do zero emission vehicles like Prius's's's carry a disk with a '£0.00' on it?
If so, perhaps us cycling critters can be issued with the same thing

Lets say it costs £5 in fees to make a VED disc, including admin fees, printing and sending it out...

How much would it cost to deliver a VED disc to every bicycle..... Well first we need to register every bicycle to know which ones do and do not have a valid VED disc... that would need administrating. and lets not forget that each bicycle would need a new VED disc each year... This cost is piling up whilst cyclists are providing no direct payment for it.

So where will this money come from to provide each bicycle with a VED disc?

 

[musa]

To add to this how do you deal with people who don't register the bike they are riding?

 

[Andy_R]

What is this "road tax" that you are all talking about?? Is it like that other mythical creation, the Unicorn? If so, do I need to pay road tax to ride my Unicorn down the road? Or should I just stick an ice cream cone to a pony's head and tell eveyone to feck off?

 

[musa]

Andy_R I believe it'll be the latter option

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

I just smile and inform people who say I don't pay road tax, you think thats bad I don't pay fuel duty on my bike either - hopefully it gets them thinking which at times can get a lot you a further than debate or arguments.

 

[locker]

Lets say it costs £5 in fees to make a VED disc, including admin fees, printing and sending it out...

How much would it cost to deliver a VED disc to every bicycle..... Well first we need to register every bicycle to know which ones do and do not have a valid VED disc... that would need administrating. and lets not forget that each bicycle would need a new VED disc each year... This cost is piling up whilst cyclists are providing no direct payment for it.

So where will this money come from to provide each bicycle with a VED disc?

By fining the cyclists without a valid VED disc

 

[Andy_R]

Lets say it costs £5 in fees to make a VED disc, including admin fees, printing and sending it out...

How much would it cost to deliver a VED disc to every bicycle..... Well first we need to register every bicycle to know which ones do and do not have a valid VED disc... that would need administrating. and lets not forget that each bicycle would need a new VED disc each year... This cost is piling up whilst cyclists are providing no direct payment for it.

So where will this money come from to provide each bicycle with a VED disc?

and what about mountain bikes? do they get declared SORN?