cyclists

[corydoras]

Why are you so nasty in the way you reply?

 

You have a very aggressive attitude in my opinion and you always think you are right don't you?

Because for about the third time in the topic andy has posted words to the effect that in his opinion motor vehicles have some privileged status on the road because they pay Road Fund Duty and Fuel duty, despite me (and others) pointing out that taxes on the whole are not hypothecated in this country. No I am not always right, but I generally know when I am right and I am only too willing to apologise when I get it wrong. Anyway, Andy is like me a fine young Scot who can fight his own battles.

[Andy_1984]

Because for about the third time in the topic andy has posted words to the effect that in his opinion motor vehicles have some privileged status on the road because they pay Road Fund Duty and Fuel duty, despite me (and others) pointing out that taxes on the whole are not hypothecated in this country. No I am not always right, but I generally know when I am right and I am only too willing to apologise when I get it wrong. Anyway, Andy is like me a fine young Scot who can fight his own battles.

 

i dont see how fuel duty and road tax is not paying for the right to use roads ? if i didnt pay it would i still beable to drive on roads ? well aye but only with a bike and then i can rip through red lights and try to run over pedestrians but being such a law abiding person that i'am i pay and i do as the rules say.

 

if thery did pay any sort of minimal tax they would treat the roads with a lot more respect, which is more than i can say for other morons on the road who act just as bad, the fact of the matter is we have good and bad cyclists just the same as we have good and bad drivers.

Edited April 18, 2007 by Andy_1984

[gozzer]

Andy is like me a fine young Scot who can fight his own battles.

 

Young Cory ?????

 

 

 

John.

Edited April 18, 2007 by gozzer

[salmo6934]

I live beside a very dangerous piece of footpath/ cycle track. The biggest problem is bikes without bells, what good reason can anybody give for not having a bell.

My hearing is perfect but some of these mountain bikes can be right on you before you know it, they are also quite heavy but I will promise you this, the one that crashes into me and breaks my rod will have to have an operation to remove the remainder from a certain part of his anatomy.

There are other user's of this footpath/cycle track,wimmen with prams, kids coming and going to school, dog walkers etc and anglers.

Apart from that there is miles of cycle track, they call them pavements up here.

[corydoras]

i dont see how fuel duty and road tax is not paying for the right to use roads ? if i didnt pay it would i still beable to drive on roads ? well aye but only with a bike and then i can rip through red lights and try to run over pedestrians but being such a law abiding person that i'am i pay and i do as the rules say.

 

if thery did pay any sort of minimal tax they would treat the roads with a lot more respect, which is more than i can say for other morons on the road who act just as bad, the fact of the matter is we have good and bad cyclists just the same as we have good and bad drivers.

The reason is because taxes in this country are not hypothecated or ring-fenced, although many folks like yourself assume that they are. The monies that the government collect from all the taxes we as private individuals and business pay all go into one big pot. The Road Tax that you pay is there to try to persuade you to buy a smaller car, and the Fuel Duty that you pay is there to make you use your car less once you have made the decision that you are going to be a car owner. I know that it does not seem this way to you (hell I used to think exactly as you do, until someone pointed out to me that if all the money collected from Road Tax and Fuel duty was spent on the roads we would have immaculate roads as smooth as billiard tables). There are some folks who still think that National Insurance is some kind of insurance policy that we pay to fund the health service, but it is not, it is just another source of revenue for the Exchequer.

 

Look at this another way. Imagine you have a big 4x4 car, drive it a lot, but had a fairly modest salary. I on the other hand own a small car and since I take the train or cycle to work don't drive it very much, but I earn £80,000 a year. We both pay Road Tax and Fuel duty, and you probably pay more than me. I however earn a lot more than you and pay much more Income Tax (and Nat.Ins), so I may actually paying more to use the road than you do, even although I have a smaller car, and use it less than you do.

 

I don't like the idea of taxing cyclists to use the road because I don't like the idea of new taxes, period. I would not be against the idea of cyclists having compulsory TPO insurance the same as car drivers need to.

 

The only tax I can think of that is hypothecated is the TV Licence Fee, which as we all know is paid to the BBC. What a lot of people don't know or can't foresee is that if the BBC were to lose its charter, we will still have to pay the TV Licence fee, jut it will go into the big pot, rather than the BBC.

 

One last thing before I close. I note from your postings that you did not like the experience of being pushed into the side of the wall or the chain link fence by the cyclist riding on the pavement. That is exactly what it feels like to have a car squeeze you into the gutter.

[corydoras]

Young Cory ?????

John.

Yeah I am young, I'm 46 years young. Being old is a state of mind, it has nothing to do with how long you have been kicking around mon the planet 4. I behave and feel just the same now as when I was 21.

[Andy_1984]

you make a realy argument cory but i still see road tax as paying to use the roads, again if i didnt pay road tax could i use the roads ? no i wouldnt so paying road tax would allow me to use the road again thus paying for the right to use the roads.

 

as for cyclists ive came across a few since i started driving and i always give them a wide bearth of atleast 6ft and about another 6ft before i pull back into formation.

 

like other drivers they wont extend the same courtesy to cyclists never mind other car drivers, we are the same us drivers and cyclists. just like that cyclist who almost ran me over didnt extend me any courtesy as i would have him. also on my trip to greggs for lunch some idiot was cycling up a one way road with 2 lanes. yesterday i was crossing the road when i had the green man, the road was clear of cars and this cyclist came straight through he wasnt wearing any high vis vests and i couldnt see him at all till he was about 10ft away making me have to stop in the middle of the road to let him by

 

i could be wrong on the taxing thing. the whole idea of the taxing thing was to perhaps make cyclists legaly bonded to the highway code and the registration thing to identify idiots who do things like many have stated above.

 

currently cyclists have free access to do what ever the hell they want. and its the drivers who take the brunt of this when it all goes to crap

Edited April 18, 2007 by Andy_1984

[Lid]

currently cyclists have free access to do what ever the hell they want. and its the drivers who take the brunt of this when it all goes to crap

 

No they don't. They are still breaking the law when they do the things you have talked about and can be done for it by the police. The fact the police don't bother to enforce these laws is a different matter. For example in Oxford about one in three cyclists cycle without lights in the dark. Years ago the police used to issue on the spot fines (something like £15 or £25 per missing light). During that brief period there was an improvement, but now nothing is done, so loads of people simply cycle dangerously without lights. The law is already there, but not enforced.

Edited April 18, 2007 by Lid

[Newt]

so loads of people simply cycle dangerously without lights.

 

Bump, thump, oops.

 

Pretty soon, lightless night riders are too scarce to be an issue.

[Lid]

Trouble is apparently the car driver is still at fault if you hit a lightless, nightime cyclist.