Someone Ran me over..

koolpc said:
Look, cyclists should have insurance
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Why? It's already been explained multiple times in this thread why that is A; not required and B: not practical.

koolpc said:
We are on about people using vehicles on the road. Why not scrap insurance then for all road users?
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Because cars do more damage than cyclists and thus cause higher cost accidents.

Remember, insurance isn't there to protect the third party, it's to protect those who are liable for the accident from ruinous claims. You don't even need to buy an insurance policy to drive on the road, you can "self insure" if you wish. All cyclists without insurance via somewhere like British Cycling or the CTC are effectively self insuring, which is fine as it's quite likely that for the majority of the time they'd be able to cover the costs of damages for any accident they are liable for.
 
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Indeed,
As roads are payed for out of general taxation, everyone pays for the roads, as we all benefit from them, even if indirectly, goods and food get to shops via the roads, emergency service and utilities use the roads so they benefit people who don't directly use them, hence we all pay.

Also, cyclists tend to live longer, living longer mean paying more general taxation, so cyclists over an average lifetime may pay more tax than a driver. with this in mind they probably have more of a right to use the roads than drivers :D
 
amigafan2003 said:
Why? It's already been explained multiple times in this thread why that is A; not required and B: not practical.
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Because if he constantly spouts it he believes someone might actually believe it.

Some say the very definition of insanity is repeating the exact same series of events over and over and expecting a different outcome.
 
I can't be bothered to read the whole thread so perhaps this has already been mentioned but if the op wants good advice on pursuing a claim they should probably contact the CTC, now called CyclingUK apparently. http://www.cyclinguk.org Post on their forum if you want more advice.

I am pretty sure they used to give some basic advice and have linked solicitors that would deal with cyclist legal matters.
 
Doogles said:
Please explain it too me then, I am all for learning! I always thought road tax is road tax, I thought it meant literary but if I'm wrong please explain than shoot me ;)
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Well there's quite a lot of replies above mine starting with amigafan2003's.

Short answer:
Road Tax was abolished in 1937 and now vehicles pay a tax based on emissions. Lots of vehicles don't have to pay this tax and neither do cyclists.
Cyclists pay for the roads out of normal tax & Council tax like everybody else does.
 
A car driving licence entitles you to drive on the road, Vehicle Excise Duty is simply taxation required by most to legally use or park a motor vehicle on the road.
 
UTmaniac said:
A car driving licence entitles you to drive on the road, Vehicle Excise Duty is simply taxation required by most to legally use or park a motor vehicle on the road.
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There are lots of taxes that confer entitlement (National Insurance leading to contributory Job Seekers Allowance and State Pension being two examples).

My statement that paying vehicle tax entitles you to drive on the road was not incorrect. You'll also note that I made reference to the two other requirements of that entitlement.
 
amigafan2003 said:
it's a variable tax based on the emissions of the vehicle, hence electric vehicles and other zero emissions vehicles are exempt, along with vehicles used by the disabled, tractors etc.
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It's my understanding that in the case of disabled drivers it's not the vehicle that is actually exempt, but they can apply for a 'disability exemption' on a vehicle they are the Primary driver of. Technically when they are no longer driving the vehicle, it is no longer exempt.

Tractors/Agricultural/Forestry/Horticultural vehicles are not exempt. They can only be exempt if they travel no further than 1.5km (used to be less than a mile) along a public highway. The vast majority of tractors you see 'on the roads' will be paying tax as the majority of harvesting/potatoes/etc will be along stretches of road much further than 1.5km. Same usually goes for their quad bikes etc.
 
amigafan2003 said:
Another thing you have no clue about.

The DfT state it's perfectly OK for responsible and considerate cyclists who feel vulnerable on the roads to cycle on pavements.

http://road.cc/content/news/108119-transport-minister-responsible-cyclists-can-ride-pavement



It's vehicle tax (we stopped calling it road tax in the 1930's and stopped calling it VED or vehicle excise duty in 2012 I think - apparently the general public were confused about what excise duty was! So they just called it tax instead).

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It's a tax that entitles you to use your vehicle on the road (coupled with insurance and "by license") and it's a variable tax based on the emissions of the vehicle, hence electric vehicles and other zero emissions vehicles are exempt, along with vehicles used by the disabled, tractors etc. As it's emissions based, even if vehicle tax did apply to cycles, they would be zero rated and cyclists would't pay anything - so the whole argument of cycles "paying road tax" is mute anyway.
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Thanks for showing me that, I do think that the tax shouldn't be emissions based but rather size based, we already have the EU stopping cars from pumping too much out although that hasn't really been that successful. TBF though vehicle tax is just road tax but a different word for it right?

TBF you probably eat more and fart more after cycling so maybe it isn't mute ;) /s

UTmaniac said:
A car driving licence entitles you to drive on the road, Vehicle Excise Duty is simply taxation required by most to legally use or park a motor vehicle on the road.
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Which makes vehicle tax road tax as I can drive my car off road without paying it, so it's just fancy wording.
 
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Doogles said:
Which makes vehicle tax road tax as I can drive my car off road without paying it, so it's just fancy wording.
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Or you could buy one of these cars https://www.carwow.co.uk/tax-exempt-carsand not pay vehicle tax, or whatever it's called this week.

As an asside, I think it should be abolished and added to fuel duty, burn more fossil fuel, pay more tax.

It's a fairer way of doing it, as you could do 30k miles a year in a low tax or tax free car, and cause much more pollution and pay a lot less than someone who has an engine with more emissions who only does 5k miles per year.
 
how can people still not understand that we pay tax on the emissions our vehicles produce?! I see people use that argument against cyclists, horse riders, even wild animals that cross the road!!! I would have thought by now it was pretty clear!!
 
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Jamesyboyjim said:
how can people still not understand that we pay tax on the emissions are vehicles produce?! I see people use that argument against cyclists, horse riders, even wild animals that cross the road!!! I would have thought by now it was pretty clear!!
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About a month ago somebody replied to me saying isn't it about time I took my sig off because everybody knows now :D
 
Does this mean professional marathon runners and Grand Tour cyclists might go bankrupt ?;)
 
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SexyGreyFox said:
My mate doesn't pay Vehicle Tax on his Landrover P90 and I wouldn't want to be a driver behind that polluting tin can. Every time he turns it on a few birds die.
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That's true, I don't pay vehicle tax on one of my cars either due to it being a classic (think the most I've seen out of it is 12mpg :eek:).

I don't drive it much though as petrol stations round here are too far apart!
 
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