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holocene Wrote:

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1. Road tax hasn't existed since 1937.

>

> 2. If the cyclist is a taxpayer, they contribute

> to upkeep of roads for all users.


Between 1920 and 1936 the vehicle licence (tax disc) was officially known as the "Road Fund Licence",

a term which is still in common use today.


Doesn't Matter what you call it.


DulwichFox

Road tax became Vehicle Excise Duty. This is based on C02 emission and would put bikes in the same classification as electric vehicles, which are currently exempt from VED. Asking cyclists to pay "road tax" for road surface upkeep which they are already paying for through income tax is lazy anti-cyclist rhetoric.

I've cycled for over a decade and acquired a car to avoid using public transport during lockdown. I still use my bike and two feet more for short journeys.


The bikes weigh under 10kg - with me & panniers on it, they're stil under 100kg. My car, even with just me in it, is over 10x heavier. The car has grandfathered ?0 VED and the bikes, obviously, have none. Luckily for the roads, I still have a job so am paying tax.


I suspect the tonne of car does far more damage to the roads than the 100kg of bike. Any bike licensing scheme would probably cost more to set up than it brought in - it's a lot harder to find somewhere to mount a reg plate on a bike and RFID isn't there yet. At its simplest, a tax at purchase point might be easiest - but still can't see it being particularly worthwhile in revenue.

Oh good a comedy thread, I need some light relief after all that whinging about LTNs. Some good posts correcting various urban myths. Fortunately there is common sense in government and who are not going to explore that nonsense of licensing push bikes. I too pay my taxes, and I am insured when I am on my bike. Well unless Priti Patel moves to Transport or the Treasury.... [my apologies, the subject of the thread is sensible, just some of the posts comedy]


On a wider issue Vehicle Excise Duty is a complete dog's dinner; when last changed and moved away from carbon emissions (after the first year). Only zero emission vehicles are ?0.


Powered two wheelers - electric scooters and twist and go electric bikes are classed as these - but are neither pavement or road legal. There's a good debate as the genie is well out of the bottle. Unlike push bikes these should be licensed and insured.

Bus lanes are segregated from much of the traffic so they can be used by cyclists. The quiet routes on back roads are chosen for their relative lack of traffic so they don?t need to be painted. If you?ve got functioning lights, a bell and reflective clothing that will help maintain safety (though so many cyclists dispense with one or more of those, unfortunately).

Hi Foxy,

Sadly, it seems that a lot of car drivers also don't need steering wheels as they drive along looking at 'their frigging mobile phones'.


Of course no-one should be using a mobile phone at all when driving or cycling, but it's the car drivers who use their phones that worry me - a tonne of metal moving at 20-30MPH is going to cause a lot of damage when it hits something/someone.


As a cyclist and occasional driver, I would welcome segregated lanes. I've been knocked off my bike from people opening their car doors on to me and also have been over the top of a car when it turned right across my path before.


Hopefully all of the car tax I pay can be used to pay for them :-)

SE22_2020er Wrote:

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> Hi Foxy,

> Sadly, it seems that a lot of car drivers also

> don't need steering wheels as they drive along

> looking at 'their frigging mobile phones'.

>


Drivers who get caught are Heavily Fined and get points on their Licence (quite rightly)


Cyclists can do what they like.. Use their Mobiles.. Ride on the Pavement endangering Pedestrians..

Ride the wrong way up one_Way streets...


No fines for them..


Foxy

Foxy,

Not sure that I agree with your comments - over the last 30 years of cycling, I've been fined as a cyclist on 2 occasions (admittedly I've also had points on my license twice as well!)


As with everything in life, you get a wide range of people. Excellent and terrible car drivers, excellent and terrible cyclists. Not sure putting every category in a single amorphous bucket is really that helpful. I hope that if we met you'd think me as being a very responsible cyclist as I'm sure I'd find you a most well mannered, proficient driver :-).


Happy Easter!

DulwichFox Wrote:

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> Drivers who get caught are Heavily Fined and get

> points on their Licence (quite rightly)


Except there is almost zero enforcement which is why I see drivers on their phones almost every time I?m out. Even when a woman almost ran me over on zebra crossing the police screwed up the paperwork so she got away scot free. I?d make driving holding a mobile phone an automatic 12-month ban and ?1000 fine, balance the low likelihood of being caught with serious consequences if you are.

You can suggest locations for cycle lanes or pavements etc. or upvote an existing idea with Widen My Path. It identifies where changes are needed, demonstrate support for them as part of their advocacy work, and for Local Authorities to action them.


https://www.widenmypath.com/

Cyclists worried about drivers on mobile phones can take pictures, upload these, and send to the Met. Rather an extreme measure, but one of my colleagues was really into it, and even went to court as a witness once (successful prosecution). Upstairs on a double decker affords you a better view! The colleague said that many are actually looking at the internet, rather than a voice call or texting, and that included Tinder. But that made it difficult to get a picture, as they didn't have the phone to their ear, ie doing it on their lap (even more worrying if on Tinder), to make it less obvious, and due to glare and poorer contrast/definition images may not be clear. Shopping drivers to the police was so successful that the Met changed the system making it more difficult to download the pictures. Perhaps.


That said I don't see that many on their phones - maybe the message has got across. Usually you can tell, road positioning is not good, often not signalling, so you are already prepared to take evasive action. And then when you overtake, eg at a junction, guess what, they are on their phone. Some silly ones are even in business vehicles with branding, including once the Royal Mail (I did get a picture of that). If I was on one of the other threads I'd talk about entitled motorists that think they can drive how, when, why, what and where. Nephew got away without a ban hitting 12 points, 6 for driving hands on mobile. My sister said, well of course everyone does it now an then. My view was that the van should have gone into a crusher and cubed. OK maybe an extreme measure but then some need that level of deterrent.


Oh dear, sadly this has gone off thread, as most do when we try to have a chat about a cycling issue, as clearly we are all lycra warriors happy to break the law and harass pedestrians. I'm being facetious.

first mate Wrote:

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> Cyclists, unless they are mountain bikers, do need

> reasonably well kept roads so it is not impossible

> that in time cyclists may also get taxed for road

> upkeep.



Never going to happen and impossible to enforce.

What would make us all safer would be some social pressure on those driving around in pseudo military vehicles / SUVs. Their bonnet height, general size and weight, and ability to mount pavements when out of control is ridiculous. They have no place in cities yet seem to becoming the go to vehicle for Dulwichites. We used to laugh at Americans for driving around in these things. How about quadrupling their VED?

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