Judge fines cyclist for using road

Was said:
the police can fine you for not having working brakes too.....
if its on the road it has to be road worthy whatever it is

I dont go on the road, I just go around the block in circles on the pavement :p
 
I don't get some of the cyclist attitude over this topic - are you seriously suggesting that a guy who caused an extreme inconvenience to other road users should have escaped punishment just because he was a cyclist? So, hypothetical stuff now - what if he'd been in a car doing 15-20mph in a 60mph zone? Similar situation, just changed the offending vehicle. Should he be fined for being an inconsiderate little **** then?

He wasn't fined for not using the cycle lane. He was fined for showing no consideration to the road users who he would be getting in the way of. How would cyclists react if I went out with a couple of mates and we cycled veeeeeerrrrrryyyyy sssssllloooooooowwwwwwlllllllllyyyyyy up the cycle path taking up most of it's width? We would quite rightly be hailed as inconsiderate tossers and probably ought to be punished for it!
 
JRS said:
I don't get some of the cyclist attitude over this topic - are you seriously suggesting that a guy who caused an extreme inconvenience to other road users should have escaped punishment just because he was a cyclist? So, hypothetical stuff now - what if he'd been in a car doing 15-20mph in a 60mph zone? Similar situation, just changed the offending vehicle. Should he be fined for being an inconsiderate little **** then?

He wasn't fined for not using the cycle lane. He was fined for showing no consideration to the road users who he would be getting in the way of. How would cyclists react if I went out with a couple of mates and we cycled veeeeeerrrrrryyyyy sssssllloooooooowwwwwwlllllllllyyyyyy up the cycle path taking up most of it's width? We would quite rightly be hailed as inconsiderate tossers and probably ought to be punished for it!


well said :)
 
Personally i think its about time, Cyclists are a pain, I am forever getting stuck behind them, some are awful aswell swaying everywhere and not staying over to the left. On sundays they are the worse, they cycle in big groups across the entire road for large sections of the lane ahead preventing you from overtaking them safely. Stupid cycling clubs, who sdo they think they are Tour de frodsham.

Personally, i think they should be banned off public roads without cycle lanes and should not be allowed to cycle next to each other
 
Im guessing most people here havnt been on their bike since they where kids so have no idea really.

Whenever you are on a proper road bike going around 20mph, you feel every bump on the road, so therefore a road is the best place to be. If a cycle lane is good ill use it, if not its the road for me.

And we dont stick to the left hand side of the road so mr impatient car driver doesnt think, "hea theres plenty of room there, and i can get through at 60mph no problem"
 
chucky said:
Im guessing most people here havnt been on their bike since they where kids so have no idea really.

Whenever you are on a proper road bike going around 20mph, you feel every bump on the road, so therefore a road is the best place to be. If a cycle lane is good ill use it, if not its the road for me.

And we dont stick to the left hand side of the road so mr impatient car driver doesnt think, "hea theres plenty of room there, and i can get through at 60mph no problem"


cyclists cant complain about the state of the roads as they dont pay to use them.

as a motorcyclist i do complain about the state of the roads :D


To be honest dont mind cyclists in general but most of the cyclists around here, ride two abreast, overtake other cyclists without checking behind them, cut accross roundabouts and jump red lights. Personally I think they should be heavily fined for it
 
JRS said:
I don't get some of the cyclist attitude over this topic - are you seriously suggesting that a guy who caused an extreme inconvenience to other road users should have escaped punishment just because he was a cyclist? So, hypothetical stuff now - what if he'd been in a car doing 15-20mph in a 60mph zone? Similar situation, just changed the offending vehicle. Should he be fined for being an inconsiderate little **** then?

Good analogy. Tractors, horses, road sweepers drive at 20mph in a 60mph zone, but arn't charged. So why should it be only cyclists?
 
cyclists cant complain about the state of the roads as they dont pay to use them.

Well i think most of them also drive cars so therefore they do pay their road tax, but occasionaly decide to get of there backsides and go on a bike.
 
Samtheman1k said:
Good analogy. Tractors, horses, road sweepers drive at 20mph in a 60mph zone, but arn't charged. So why should it be only cyclists?

because I haven't seen any horse or tractor lanes recently?

it's a tricky one. If the cycle lane is 'dangerous and slow' then he has a point.
if it's not, then he's got no justifiable reason (that i've seen) to cycle on the road instead.
 
chucky said:
Well i think most of them also drive cars so therefore they do pay their road tax, but occasionaly decide to get of there backsides and go on a bike.

But if you own two cars that are on the road, you still have to pay tax on both of them.
 
Six6siX said:
But if you own two cars that are on the road, you still have to pay tax on both of them.

there are rather less emmisions from a bike, which afaik the reason we have to purchase road tax in different amounts. Low emission or 'green' cars don't have to pay for the road tax, so of course, bikes shouldn't either. They don't pollute the atmosphere.
 
kitten_caboodle said:
there are rather less emmisions from a bike, which afaik the reason we have to purchase road tax in different amounts. Low emission or 'green' cars don't have to pay for the road tax, so of course, bikes shouldn't either. They don't pollute the atmosphere.

So why is it called "road tax" as opposed to "pollution tax" ? I know what you mean, but the name implies that road using veichles should pay a tax which contributes towards the upkeep of the road network.
 
chucky said:
Im guessing most people here havnt been on their bike since they where kids so have no idea really.

Whenever you are on a proper road bike going around 20mph, you feel every bump on the road, so therefore a road is the best place to be. If a cycle lane is good ill use it, if not its the road for me.

And we dont stick to the left hand side of the road so mr impatient car driver doesnt think, "hea theres plenty of room there, and i can get through at 60mph no problem"

As one of your "mr impatient" drivers I would like to retort :)

I ride my bike to the pub, into the village to shop, up to the post office. There are no cycle lanes at all until you get out of the village (Stretton, near Burton-on-Trent). I ride on the left of the road, practically in the gutter so I can stay out of the way of the motorists who are actually paying to be on that road.

Once outside the village on Princess Way, there is a cycle lane. I use it - that's what it's there for. Further up the road it disappears again, so I'm back to using the extreme left of the road so I don't get in the way.

When I'm driving, I give cyclists a wide berth. Not that this helps sometimes of course - I've gone over to the other side of the road to go round them and still occasionally get dirty looks or angry gestures.

The amount of times I see bikes wobbling all over the place over bumps in the road - newsflash: if your bike is so unstable that it can't handle a little bump in the road, it's time to scrap it and buy a better one. They take unroadworthy cars off the road via the MOT, why shouldn't they do the same with bikes? In fact, 3rd party insurance would also be a good thing.....and a tax disc (even if it's free but still display one, like pre '73 cars)......and maybe even some kind of registration......


***edit***

kitten_caboodle said:
there are rather less emmisions from a bike, which afaik the reason we have to purchase road tax in different amounts. Low emission or 'green' cars don't have to pay for the road tax, so of course, bikes shouldn't either. They don't pollute the atmosphere.


What's the amount of CO2, a greenhouse gas remember, exhaled from a cyclist on a 5 mile bike ride up a hill? ;)
 
kitten_caboodle said:
there are rather less emmisions from a bike, which afaik the reason we have to purchase road tax in different amounts. Low emission or 'green' cars don't have to pay for the road tax, so of course, bikes shouldn't either. They don't pollute the atmosphere.

The reason why tax is so high on feul is because of the emmisions our cars produce. So we are taxed twice. Cyclist should pay road tax for the maintance of the road. They should also have number plates so they are held accountable for there actions.

Personally, i think anyone using a bike on road should have insurance. About a month ago a retarded cyclist rode into the side of my car when i was in a right turn filter lane and put the rear drivers window thro with his handle bars and dented my car. He shrugged his shoulders and rode off. I should have smacked him but didnt.
 
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chesterstu said:
Personally, i think anyone using a bike on road should have insurance. .

Couldn't agree more.

As for why it's called Road Tax, it's actually called Vehicle Excise Duty :) I believe Road Tax is just a colloquialism coined due to the fact that those using the road (back when it was introduced) paid it :)
 
chucky said:
Well i think most of them also drive cars so therefore they do pay their road tax, but occasionaly decide to get of there backsides and go on a bike.


not really a valid argument, you dont pay road tax for you to use a road, you pay road tax for that particular vehicle to use the road...
 
kitten_caboodle said:
Couldn't agree more.

As for why it's called Road Tax, it's actually called Vehicle Excise Duty :) I believe Road Tax is just a colloquialism coined due to the fact that those using the road (back when it was introduced) paid it :)

thirded
 
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