Why shouldn't cyclists pay road tax?

[Electric_Andy]

They come to my house and park upon my driveway.

I could make allowances for that to be fair, but simply using the road overnight for the storage of personal property is, if one thinks about it, a daft proposition.

I agree that it does cause a lot of traffic problems having to wait behind a load of parked cars. And yes, if I were buying a house I'd consider parking, access etc. But some can't afford to. I doubt many would mind walking 10 mins to their car, but there isn't any such option that I can think of near me. It would penalise the lower earners who can only afford a house with no driveway. Parked cars on the road are a scourge, but I can't think of any fair way around it. Not can the council seemingly.

 

[MontyVeda]

Plenty of delivery drivers with parking tickets are liable to argue with you on that, but a health visitor and plenty of others in private cars would be parked, as would tradesmen.

I've seen lots and lots and lots of delivery vans park up on double yellows or residents only bays outside my house and have never seen a single one get ticketed, but they're not there for more than a few minutes. My window cleaners say the traffic wardens don't bother them so long as they've got their hoses out (oo-err), and they're 'parked' for around 15 mins on double yellows. Anyone using the residents bays for the dentist up the road seems to get a ticket within five minutes, so it's not for lack of traffic wardens. Maybe they're just a bit more tolerant to everyday comings and goings up here?

 

[Milzy]

We are hated, we are easy targets. They throw bottles at us and drive away. Cowards.
Local old boy from the other day.

 

[Drago]

I agree that it does cause a lot of traffic problems having to wait behind a load of parked cars. And yes, if I were buying a house I'd consider parking, access etc. But some can't afford to. I doubt many would mind walking 10 mins to their car, but there isn't any such option that I can think of near me. It would penalise the lower earners who can only afford a house with no driveway. Parked cars on the road are a scourge, but I can't think of any fair way around it. Not can the council seemingly.

Just not being able to afford something does not give people any moral imperative to inflict their car storage problem on everyone else.

Why should the unfairness be foisted onto the rest of us in order for it to be fair to them?

I can't afford lots of things, and it's not unfair - it's the way it is and I deal with it.

 

[MontyVeda]

... Parked cars on the road are a scourge, but I can't think of any fair way around it. Nor can the council seemingly.

Oh but they can... residents parking schemes. If you don't buy an annual parking permit, you get a parking ticket each and every day. They were introduced around my area a good 15-20 years ago, much to everyone's annoyance. But with the railway station to close by, these streets were being used daily as free parking for commuters to Preston and Manchester, so it was necessary. My only gripe is the permit is maybe a bit too affordable and therefore isn't a deterrent to car ownership in the centre of a small town.

 

[Alex321]

Oh but they can... residents parking schemes. If you don't buy an annual parking permit, you get a parking ticket each and every day. They were introduced around my area a good 15-20 years ago, much to everyone's annoyance. But with the railway station to close by, these streets were being used daily as free parking for commuters to Preston and Manchester, so it was necessary. My only gripe is the permit is maybe a bit too affordable and therefore isn't a deterrent to car ownership in the centre of a small town.

Yeah, that isn't a way of stopping parking on the roads, it is just a way of limiting it to local residents. I think most towns now have some areas that are resident parking only.

 

[MontyVeda]

Yeah, that isn't a way of stopping parking on the roads, it is just a way of limiting it to local residents. I think most towns now have some areas that are resident parking only.

OK, here's another idea that maybe you nor the council haven't thought of... double yellow lines.

 

[Alex321]

OK, here's another idea that maybe you nor the council haven't thought of... double yellow lines.

Indeed, they are unlikely to "think" of that. Why on earth would they want to do that, when they can get a nice income stream from resident's permits?

 

[Andy in Germany]

How would you get deliveries or tradesmen?

When the roads aren't clogged with private cars there's more space for them, in the same way that cars are banned from our town centre but buses and deliveries are not, so deliveries can take place more efficiently even in a old town centre.

 

[Electric_Andy]

But again, you won't stop people from owning cars by doing this. Expensive resident parking permits or bans will just drive people to park slightly further away, so the problem will get much worse a few streets or even a mile away. It's the same near Torbay hospital, they introduced resident only parking so that people wouldn't park on the roads in nearby residential areas. So they just park on the main road up to a mile away which effectively limits that road to 1.5 car widths, and the pavements are also parked on

 

[Andy in Germany]

But again, you won't stop people from owning cars by doing this. Expensive resident parking permits or bans will just drive people to park slightly further away, so the problem will get much worse a few streets or even a mile away. It's the same near Torbay hospital, they introduced resident only parking so that people wouldn't park on the roads in nearby residential areas. So they just park on the main road up to a mile away which effectively limits that road to 1.5 car widths, and the pavements are also parked on

No, it probably wouldn't work in isolation because you need to give people alternatives; removing parking and adding cycle infrastructure, and preventing through traffic in towns, and reducing the nimber of roads overall, and investing heavily in public transport, and making walkable neighbourhoods, or a combination of even a few of these will make a big difference though, with the added side effect that the Daily Mail would spontaneously combust.