"If you want to ride in the middle of the road pay road tax!"

Jenne - I presume the argument is with Graeme? :-) Oliver is right - there is no such thing as Road Tax. The site you linked to 'Parkers' is primarily a forum for trading motor vehicles - which kind of exp[alins their inaccuracy.

Surprisingly Wikipedia gives a very good breakdown of the history of vehicle excise duty, which Oliver linked to.

You raise an interesting point on insurance. I also think cyclists should have to be insured, however I also think there should be a large tax break for not owning a motor vehicle to offset this.

Haha! Yeah, but really he's the most civilized arguer! he just sort of keeps saying, Yes, it is. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. No raised voice there!

I have been reading blog posts and articles and stuff and there are arguments against compulsory licensing but I don't think that insurance is the same thing. yes, I think that cyclists should be highly compensated for doing something that's only better for the whole world.

I also am not convinced that separate, but not compulsory, bicycle lanes shouldn't be used, like in Holland (lack of space cannot be an acceptable reason for this not happening here), but that is a) another argument, and b) asking for a Schick-style beat down, so I won't go there.