cloggsy
Boardmanist
- Location
- North Yorkshire
'Which?' Should Cyclists pay 'Road Tax?' Grrrrrrr
- Thread starter cloggsy
- Start date
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Col5632
Guru
- Location
- Cowdenbeath
If we were to pay 'road tax' as its wrongly called alot then the cost of that would be zero, same as class A cars who have such low emissions dont pay 'road tax'
I dont feel a test would work and number plates is just daft i feel, i think both cyclists and drivers (I'm both) need to pay more attention and stop doing stupid things like RLJ.
I dont feel a test would work and number plates is just daft i feel, i think both cyclists and drivers (I'm both) need to pay more attention and stop doing stupid things like RLJ.
MrHappyCyclist
Riding the Devil's HIghway
- Location
- Bolton, England
It seems to be the done thing in these debates to say stuff like: "both cyclists and drivers...", "...good and bad on both sides...", etc, etc. To be honest I get a bit fed up with that. When cycling, I come across motorists doing stupid, impatient things that affect me every day, and probably have a motorist doing something that causes me real concern about once a week on average. In nearly 400,000 miles of motoring, on the other hand, I have never, ever, ever had a problem with a cyclist.
Davywalnuts
Chief Kebab Taster
- Location
- Staines!
As a cyclist, especially this time of year, I am seeing more cyclists doing silly, irresponsible and dangerous mistakes than drivers.
I may pass a dozen or so cyclists in a commuting day and its rare to find one thats fully road aware or safe.
That, is what really gets my goat and am sure spawns these ludicrous debates about cyclist paying this mythical 'Car Tax'.
I may pass a dozen or so cyclists in a commuting day and its rare to find one thats fully road aware or safe.
That, is what really gets my goat and am sure spawns these ludicrous debates about cyclist paying this mythical 'Car Tax'.
Hip Priest
Veteran
Indeed. I've only had one incident with a cyclist in all my years of driving, and if the just-avoided accident had taken place, he'd only have hurt himself. The effects of bad cycling are negligible when compared with bad driving.
MattHB
Proud Daddy
- Location
- Deepest darkest Dorset
On the basis that motor cyclists (I'm one) pay £66 a year for a tyre contact patch of about 2 inches squared, and use roads 100% of their time out. And I probably have a tyre contact patch of 1/10th of the amount and use roads for about 50% of my rides, I'd be happy to pay, pro-rata of course, £3.30 a year. If I offset that against my carbon saving of c. 0.87tons per year for being green and commuting, I recon they probably owe me money.
I think that's more than fair.
I think that's more than fair.
Col5632
Guru
- Location
- Cowdenbeath
Cant say i have ever had a problem with a cyclist, not while driving anyway
Making cyclists pay VED is silly as (already mentioned above) we would pay nothing based on emissions.
Compulsory Insurance: Well that kinda pointless too. Motorists require insurance due to the amount of damage they can do to people or property. That's why cyclist insurance is very cheap compared to motor insurance.
Number plates: That is just ridiculous. How long would the number need to be? Should it be visible on both front and back of the bike (like cars but unlike motorcycles?) Then there is the easy defence of "I don't remember who was driving (sorry, riding
"
None of these measures would stop any silly cyclist being silly.
The only way is proper road-traffic law enforcement, which will have the inevitable consequence of picking on those poor "soft target" motorists as they break a multitude of traffic laws as they drive to work, just so that they can stay in bed 10 minutes longer.
Compulsory Insurance: Well that kinda pointless too. Motorists require insurance due to the amount of damage they can do to people or property. That's why cyclist insurance is very cheap compared to motor insurance.
Number plates: That is just ridiculous. How long would the number need to be? Should it be visible on both front and back of the bike (like cars but unlike motorcycles?) Then there is the easy defence of "I don't remember who was driving (sorry, riding
" None of these measures would stop any silly cyclist being silly.
The only way is proper road-traffic law enforcement, which will have the inevitable consequence of picking on those poor "soft target" motorists as they break a multitude of traffic laws as they drive to work, just so that they can stay in bed 10 minutes longer.
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
It is totally unworkable and would cost too much to set up. As said above the tax for low emmission vehicles is £0.
Would every bike need a tax disk and number plate? Even kids bikes and bikes that are used twice a year, or just commuters? Who would enforce it? would I need to SORN my bikes if they are off the road? What if I have a track bike or a MTB that never goes on the road?
Most cyclists have a car, I have two, both are taxed and insured. I cant cycle and drive at the same time so when I'm on my bike my car is sitting on my drive but I have still paid my "Tax".
The reason why dog licensing never gets off the ground is that it is a costly exercise, no one could enforce it and only the already responsible owners would bother, the small minority that the exercise is aimed to target just won't bother anyway. How many cars are currently not taxed and insured, the estimate in London is around 10%.
And roads are a public highway, anyone can use the, horse riders, caravans and bikes. In rural areas where there is no pavement pedestrians have to walk in the road, so should we tax them too?
Would every bike need a tax disk and number plate? Even kids bikes and bikes that are used twice a year, or just commuters? Who would enforce it? would I need to SORN my bikes if they are off the road? What if I have a track bike or a MTB that never goes on the road?
Most cyclists have a car, I have two, both are taxed and insured. I cant cycle and drive at the same time so when I'm on my bike my car is sitting on my drive but I have still paid my "Tax".
The reason why dog licensing never gets off the ground is that it is a costly exercise, no one could enforce it and only the already responsible owners would bother, the small minority that the exercise is aimed to target just won't bother anyway. How many cars are currently not taxed and insured, the estimate in London is around 10%.
And roads are a public highway, anyone can use the, horse riders, caravans and bikes. In rural areas where there is no pavement pedestrians have to walk in the road, so should we tax them too?
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
As they can't enforce the laws that they have at the moment why introduce more.
Matthew_T
"Young and Ex-whippet"
- Location
- Prestatyn, North Wales
The problem is we are all relatively okay with the current situation. You dont get motorists going on protests to get cyclists to pay VED and you dont get cyclist protesting about the numbers of near misses they have. We need to stop perfecting everything because it will cause more problems than good.
Number plates on bikes will not work because they will be too big and be dangerous to cyclists. Plus the majority of cyclists probably wont put one on.
I can understand the insurance bit though. But if you genuinly compared a bike to a vehicle in terms of insurance. The safety aspect would send the quote into the thousands. The current system for insurance from various providers is good enough, we just need to get more people insured.
Plus another problem is that how would the police know if a cyclist wasnt insured? We would then need some form of identification on the bike to enable insurance to be taken out on it and to allow the police to check that the vehicle is insured, which a bike isnt.
Drivers talk about cyclists and bikes as though they are vehicles, which we are but there are physical limitations to when can legally and safely be done to a bike to make drivers happy.
Number plates on bikes will not work because they will be too big and be dangerous to cyclists. Plus the majority of cyclists probably wont put one on.
I can understand the insurance bit though. But if you genuinly compared a bike to a vehicle in terms of insurance. The safety aspect would send the quote into the thousands. The current system for insurance from various providers is good enough, we just need to get more people insured.
Plus another problem is that how would the police know if a cyclist wasnt insured? We would then need some form of identification on the bike to enable insurance to be taken out on it and to allow the police to check that the vehicle is insured, which a bike isnt.
Drivers talk about cyclists and bikes as though they are vehicles, which we are but there are physical limitations to when can legally and safely be done to a bike to make drivers happy.
MrHappyCyclist
Riding the Devil's HIghway
- Location
- Bolton, England
General: Critical Mass? World Naked Bike Ride?
London: Tour du Danger? Blackfriars Bridge protests?
Am I just imagining these events?
Oh, and what about the hundreds of YouTube posters and the Stop SMIDSY campaign
Jonathing
Über Member
- Location
- Birmingham
Lettuce for a moment pretend that 'road tax' does in fact pay for the upkeep of roads. If the amount of damage a car does to the road if covered by their £66 (or whatever it is) payment what rate would a bike pay? And how much would artics have to pay for all the damage they do?
Matthew_T
"Young and Ex-whippet"
- Location
- Prestatyn, North Wales
I thought they were just to get more cycling facilities. I must admit that I have seen bits of the Tour de Danger but didnt understand why it was called that.
The Stop SMIDSY campaign is exactly that. Unless you live in London, Manchester or Sussex, you cannot report the incident to the police using the system. It just allows you to store all your information.
BlackPanther
Hyper-Fast Recumbent Riding Member.
- Location
- Doncaster.
I'm confused as to how paying 'road tax' would stop cyclists jumping red lights? There always have, and always will be idiot cyclists, and taxing people will not suddenly make their I.Q. leap up 20 points.
