Food for Thought: Should Cyclists Pay Road Tax?

[willhub]

I saw another cyclist get hit by a van when going through a red light and at the time i thought he got what he deserved.

Cycling is very dangerous there's a lot of people that in there car will moan about them but unless you are out there on the bike you never understand how dangerous the roads are at times lorries can suck you under and annoying drains which a lot of cars force you into this is why people jump on the paths and the path routes can be a lot quicker.

Bikes being on paths is fine if they go slow but you do get idiots that go full speed so I think in major cities they shouldn't be allowed on the paths.

Yes lorries dont realise how in danger a cyclist is when they pass, same for busses, I was on top of the pennines a couple week ago doing about 45mph and it was chucking it down heavy, this lorry passed me and I got sucks along and nearly lost my balance.

Last year I was going along at like 30mph, school bus overtook leaving me no room, I was very close to being sucked under!!

 

[jgreen726]

I dont think that cyclists should pay road tax but i do think that they should have insurance....However I cant see a way that you could enforce it fairly.

The think that bothers me about bikes is that fact that other car drivers seem to think that cyclist are 6 feet wide or the cyclists think

I am a law unto myself, Road laws do Not apply,

and as a consequence they cause traffic queues and accidents, so i also think that some roads should see cyslists banned for ecological and safety reasons.

 

[snowdog]

Motorists pay road Tax to use the UK road network. Out of this road Tax I presume the cost to maintain the roads is taken out.
Cyclists use the roads and cycle lanes on the road. They too also contribute to the daily wear and tear of the roads.
Should cyclists contribute to the road Tax system?
Granted they will not use motorways as such so a more lenient amount perhaps?

1: No, road tax would be many times smaller if this was truly the case, you pay road tax because the gov are greedy ****s and motorists are easy targets to pick on.
2: Cyclists contribute to the ''wear and tear'' ha, You'd need A LOT of em to wear the road as much as 1 car !
3: No, especially you guys in the UK, if anything you should encourage cycling more to get some cars off the roads and perhaps for fat people to actually do something to lose weight. And tbh, the cycling lanes and paths in the UK are still a joke compared to here for example.

 

[sunama]

3: No, especially you guys in the UK, if anything you should encourage cycling more to get some cars off the roads and perhaps for fat people to actually do something to lose weight.

Too right. No offence, but there are far too many fatties around now. During the Winter people cover up, but now that Summer is here, I am seeing some incredibly fat men and women. Cycling is a great way to shed the fat, while driving a car is a good way of being lazy and getting fatter.

Cycling should be encouraged.

 

[oddjob62]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4834480.stm

Once my bike starts emitting more than than 100g/km of CO2 i will happily start paying VED

I would however be totally ok with bigger fines and a crackdown on RLJing and in particular pavement riding, as long as there is also a crackdown on other vehicles entering ASLs (in London they are, more often than not, full of motorbikes and mopeds).

 

[GSDog]

Yes, but not much, considerably less than motorcycles even. However to get the road tax they should need insurance and they should display a licence plate of some description on the bike.

If that ever happened I'd stop cycling and use my car for everything instead.

 

[starfighter]

I never ride my bike on the road but I can understand some riding on the pavement.

If I was at a set of lights and was turning left for example why wait like a fool when you can very safely just go around the corner?

If the police tried to nick me for that I would run lol. or pedal.

I suppose to make it legal I would put a foot on the ground and semi push it ocross the path.

 

[meghatronic]

If I was at a set of lights and was turning left for example why wait like a fool when you can very safely just go around the corner?

If the police tried to nick me for that I would run lol. or pedal.

I suppose to make it legal I would put a foot on the ground and semi push it ocross the path.

Well why wait like a fool in a car? Why not just go round the corner...

 

[Azagoth]

Yes, and they should also have insurance too. For those time that the ****s leave a nice long scratch in your paintwork as they try to squeeze trough a gap in traffic, and then disappear off into the distance.

 

[GSDog]

Dude, are you serious?

I don't think he is, dude.

 

[alexakasloth]

"Cyclists use the roads and cycle lanes on the road. They too also contribute to the daily wear and tear of the roads."

A bicycle weigh's nothing compared to a car so that's not true.

 

[uk_unbeliever]

Why should the motorist fund better cycle lanes as things stand at the moment?

If more people cycle and the cycle lanes are good then you can drive faster- isn't that what you want? You wont have to get so annoyed then when cyclists make better time through town

 

[ianh]

Not an "Anti-Cyclists" rant but Why do they get away with so much?

This isn't an "Anti-Cyclists" rant but twice today I saw cyclists go through red lights (the 2nd one was at a x-roads and I nearly knocked him off the bike as he crossed infront of me) and, knowing that the vast majority of cyclics Do run red lights, wondered what makes those that do so special that they can completely disregard the law just because they're on a bike and never get pulled by the police for it!

I also have issue with the "Don't need a license to ride on the roads" and "No MOT" meaning that someone with no idea of the highway code and no working brakes/lights can travel the same roads as me just because he's on a bike - if it was a car he'd be arrested and fined at the very least but seemingly a bike is OK! However seen as currntly neither of those requirements are law I can't blame the cyclists for that.

Ok, so maybe it's a little bit of a Rant

 

[LordSplodge]

A better question is whether they should have insurance and be held liable for accidents/injuries they cause.

My answer is yes.

I disagree. The problem is that here in the UK we have a lot of ned types who cycle without regard to the rules or safety of anybody else.

I'd go for the opposite of what you have just suggested and go for a system like they have in the Netherlands were the cyclist is always in the right.

Being a just about full time cyclist I can tell you that most of the problems are caused by drivers.

Cyclists should not pay road tax nor should they need insurance but they should be responsible for following the rules and laws of the road and punished if they do. I personally stop for all red lights (if safe to do so) and it is my biggest pet hate against my fellow cyclists.

 

[rypt]

If more people cycle and the cycle lanes are good then you can drive faster- isn't that what you want? You wont have to get so annoyed then when cyclists make better time through town

I don't get annoyed at cyclists making better time though town, I get annoyed at 20MPH limits and cyclists who take over the whole road (by cycling two abreast)

 

[silvercut]

I think the current road tax is a rip off - the people who work on the roads work too slow and take too long, have 5 tea breaks.

 

[Glaucus]

No, what a silly idea. You going to start charging 10 year olds?

Al we need is traffic cops. to stop bad drivers and bad cyclists. the attention needs to be taken away from speeding and focused on the real causes of accidents. but the only way to do that is to have traffic cops on patrol.

 

[LordSplodge]

cyclists who take over the whole road (by cycling two abreast)

We are allowed to do that nor should we be forced to cycle right at the edge of the road where nasty things like drains exists.

Also for some reason car drivers tend to get cross when I overtake them and do silly things like move out (or in) to try and block the route - that's plain stupid as I can do speeds of 30 MPH.

In fact I once overtook a copper at 35 and he did a double take , looked at his speedo and then gave me the thumbs up!

 

[edGfaCTor]

Yes lorries dont realise how in danger a cyclist is when they pass, same for busses, I was on top of the pennines a couple week ago doing about 45mph and it was chucking it down heavy, this lorry passed me and I got sucks along and nearly lost my balance.

Last year I was going along at like 30mph, school bus overtook leaving me no room, I was very close to being sucked under!!

I had that many times it's scary because they wouldn't even know if one of us did get sucked in.


I think last year wasn't there an incident about some one who died related to being sucked in by a truck then dragged down the road

 

[Glaucus]

Yes lorries dont realise how in danger a cyclist is when they pass, same for busses, I was on top of the pennines a couple week ago doing about 45mph and it was chucking it down heavy, this lorry passed me and I got sucks along and nearly lost my balance.

surly that's your fault for doing inappropriate speeds on your machine. Just because you can achieve those legal speeds does not mean it is safe to do so. The affect would have been much less at lower speeds. You can't expect people to que behind you. Although they should leave enough room.