Bicycle Tax

Second hand info so cant pass details but read it and thought it was piss take.

I have to agree with the fans... she's too thin.

I think it's foolish.

Pedestrians can be just as dangerous and I'm sure that they cause and are involved in as many or more likely far more road accidents as cyclists, would it be fair to tax them? Require they pay insurance? Pass tests?

who gives a fuck what car drivers think they are on the whole selfish ignorant morons especially the van + the 4w drive types ......they shoot up the road at stupid speeds with phones stuck to their ears its them that needs more rigorous testing !

"animosity from other road users" .....the fact is if WE were all driving cars THEY wouldn't be going anywhere

Problem is publishing shit like this promotes it

Had a real life debate about this and many other things with some people id just met the other day, whom I was obliged to stick around for a few days.

Tests and insurance are fine, but the whole tax thing and them moaning about all the terrible things cyclists do, how they go to the front at lights etc and ride in the centre sometimes - it killed me.

I think I'd be willing to pay a tax if the money went straight into a fund for developing and improving better cycling lanes and facilities. But imposing a tax merely for being a cyclist is bollocks.

A more detailed report on the survey in the Kidderminster Shuttle.

A snippet:

Cyclists themselves largely agree on helmets and safety tests, with 75% backing compulsory helmets and 64% supporting safety tests but there are differences of opinion, with only 18% of cyclists willing to pay to use public roads and 37% happy to pay insurance.

Sample size not mentioned.

moaning about all the terrible things cyclists do, how they go to the front at lights etc and ride in the centre sometimes

It's clear that while cyclists (and indeed motorcyclists) are being trained to ride this way, as the 'correct' way to safely ride, nobody has ever thought to tell the millions of motorists about it.

Sure, if you take your theory test now, it's mentioned, a little bit, what we need is a good old fashioned public information film, played at prime time, and repeated often.

A cycle safety exam is a good idea - for car drivers.

We already have a bicycle tax. It is called "VAT" and I, for one, pay a frightening amount of it due to all the bike-related shit I keep buying :(

I think a good alternative would be larger penalties. Ride like a dick, get fined. Hard. I know it's not necessarily a practical approach, but being taxed is fucking ridiculous. That's precisely one of the reasons I ride a bike instead of driving.

I can't speak for everyone but I can't afford tax, insurance and all that kind of stuff. Some of the main reasons for me riding a bike.

I think that before we make any changes to existing laws/policies/etc we might see a decent result by starting to enforce the ones we have at the moment.

A big rise in (for example) motor-cycle riding traffic coppers who actively target anti-social road use by all road users would be nice to see.

The upkeep of roads and infrastructure comes out of council tax.
We are obvious exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty due to our zero emissions.
I do have insurance.

The driving test system can be visibly evidenced as failing. everday.

A cycle safety exam is a good idea - for car drivers.
This.

Assuming, for one fleeting second, that the questionnaires and sampling that produce this sort of lazy journalism are accurate and representative - Just what do "car drivers" think that the outcome of enforced safety exams for cyclists would be?

I would suggest that the average ranting car driver, with spit in the corner of their mouth and an arterial clot dangerously close to causing a pulmonary embolism, wants the exam to teach cyclists to hold a line in the gutter, give way to all motorised traffic, and generally keep out of their way, reducing their need to drive observantly and responsibly.

What a shock it would be, then, when cyclists take primary, and motor vehicle drivers can no longer drive at 50 mph from queue of traffic to the next.

Cycle safety as part of the curriculum for the driving test - There's a campaign I would support. Socialising the idea that bicycles are traffic as much as motor vehicles.

And fuck it - Sell all new bicycles with a £0 rated tax disc.

^^ this.

Education. Proper, nationwide campaigns telling us all about considerate road sharing and dispelling myths about cycling. Spending money on this = cheaper and waaaay more effective than infrastructure.

who gives a fuck what car drivers think they are on the whole selfish ignorant morons especially the van + the 4w drive types ......they shoot up the road at stupid speeds with phones stuck to their ears its them that needs more rigorous testing !

This in spades. Any and everyone without exception who drive a van is a total cunt.

And don't get me started about BMW drivers.....

Ha!

Further inquiry reveals this was an online survey of 1,981 adults conducted by Consumer Intelligence on 4th to 7th June 2013.

Where was the survey advertised?
What were the questions and how were they worded?

"them cyclists are right bastards, eh. wouldn't you like those fuckers to pay tax like we do"
"YES, TO ALL THESE"

Every year there's a "cyclists should be registered, cyclists should be trained, cyclists should pay tax" article.

Realistically, who is going to pay for the implementation? It's a total non-argument as the costs and policing would far outweigh any return from the cyclists.

Meh. Helmet debate >>>

I think that before we make any changes to existing laws/policies/etc we might see a decent result by starting to enforce the ones we have at the moment.

A big rise in (for example) motor-cycle riding traffic coppers who actively target anti-social road use by all road users would be nice to see.

This would be my response to many things of late, not just cycle-related issues. Press regulation, MP and lobbying hypocricy etc

At the lights in Balham last week I watched a PCSO, who happened to be standing on the corner, walk over to a driver of a big exec saloon who was parked up in the ASL and publically admonish him. It was beautiful to watch, and I am sure made a lot of nearby drivers think a bit more. Just a shame it happens so rarely, and that the PCSO was probably only standing there in order to bollock RLJers.