Passing Cyclists!!
Discussion
rossw46 said:
If I only had a quid for every time someone says cyclists should pay road tax.
No such thing exists, it called VED, vehicle excise duty, based on emissions, how much VED do you reckon EVs like Teslas pay??? Zero, that's right, like a bicycle, they emit no CO2. Roads are funded out of general taxation, which I'd wager most cyclists pay one way or another, so please don't ever use that utterly absurd line again.
As others have said, it sounds like the drivers in this case need to understand the highway code.
I know right No such thing exists, it called VED, vehicle excise duty, based on emissions, how much VED do you reckon EVs like Teslas pay??? Zero, that's right, like a bicycle, they emit no CO2. Roads are funded out of general taxation, which I'd wager most cyclists pay one way or another, so please don't ever use that utterly absurd line again.
As others have said, it sounds like the drivers in this case need to understand the highway code.
what a joke. I started cycling again recently as many others do during this mess that the world is going through and to be fair 9/10 drivers are fine but there's always one who has no patience and just risks it for no reason.
I used to cycle daily a few years ago in London and the comments I had over the years really made me question the mental capacity of some
MrGTI6 said:
I will only pass cyclists if I'm certain it's safe to do so, leaving them plenty of room. Unless they're riding two-abreast, in which case I'll do my utmost to scare the living crap out of them.
That's moronic! The reason groups of cyclists ride 2 abreast is to make it EASIER for motorists to overtake. If a group of cyclists ride single file then they occupy twice as much "length" on the road. 
grudas said:
I know right what a joke.
I started cycling again recently as many others do during this mess that the world is going through and to be fair 9/10 drivers are fine but there's always one who has no patience and just risks it for no reason.
I used to cycle daily a few years ago in London and the comments I had over the years really made me question the mental capacity of some
It really boggles my mind - "some degree of taxation needed" Christ the income tax I've paid for the last 15 years was for nothing then. I was reading a post on a local is FB page where the council have got significant works underway to make new segregated cycle lanes, oh man, the people were Fing and Cing about the traffic chaos, and the spend on the cycle lanes, can't move anywhere, I suggested those who could get a bicycle and cycle it, it's quite pleasant, and it takes me about an extra 2 minutes to get through the probably mile or so of traffic havoc, quite looking forward to the lane being completed, who'd have thought, us bloody cyclists causing so much congestion hey! what a joke. I started cycling again recently as many others do during this mess that the world is going through and to be fair 9/10 drivers are fine but there's always one who has no patience and just risks it for no reason.
I used to cycle daily a few years ago in London and the comments I had over the years really made me question the mental capacity of some
Plenty of militant cycling muppets out there trying to get in the way with some “primary” road positioning nonsense, and plenty of incompetent drivers who can’t overtake to save their lives even with plenty of opportunities. Muppets the lot of ‘em but one party’s going to hurt a lot more in the event of a collision...
bcr5784 said:
MrGTI6 said:
I will only pass cyclists if I'm certain it's safe to do so, leaving them plenty of room. Unless they're riding two-abreast, in which case I'll do my utmost to scare the living crap out of them.
That's moronic! The reason groups of cyclists ride 2 abreast is to make it EASIER for motorists to overtake. If a group of cyclists ride single file then they occupy twice as much "length" on the road. Primary road positioning and two or three abreast nonsense will just antagonise maniacs driving two tonnes of metal.
Schmed said:
bcr5784 said:
MrGTI6 said:
I will only pass cyclists if I'm certain it's safe to do so, leaving them plenty of room. Unless they're riding two-abreast, in which case I'll do my utmost to scare the living crap out of them.
That's moronic! The reason groups of cyclists ride 2 abreast is to make it EASIER for motorists to overtake. If a group of cyclists ride single file then they occupy twice as much "length" on the road. Primary road positioning and two or three abreast nonsense will just antagonise maniacs driving two tonnes of metal.
Schmed said:
That is nonsense. With single file on many roads you can easily overtake with oncoming.
Primary road positioning and two or three abreast nonsense will just antagonise maniacs driving two tonnes of metal.
Explain that to British Cycling. I presume you are not a cyclist. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/skills...Primary road positioning and two or three abreast nonsense will just antagonise maniacs driving two tonnes of metal.
Schmed said:
bcr5784 said:
MrGTI6 said:
I will only pass cyclists if I'm certain it's safe to do so, leaving them plenty of room. Unless they're riding two-abreast, in which case I'll do my utmost to scare the living crap out of them.
That's moronic! The reason groups of cyclists ride 2 abreast is to make it EASIER for motorists to overtake. If a group of cyclists ride single file then they occupy twice as much "length" on the road. Primary road positioning and two or three abreast nonsense will just antagonise maniacs driving two tonnes of metal.
bigandclever said:
Schmed said:
bcr5784 said:
MrGTI6 said:
I will only pass cyclists if I'm certain it's safe to do so, leaving them plenty of room. Unless they're riding two-abreast, in which case I'll do my utmost to scare the living crap out of them.
That's moronic! The reason groups of cyclists ride 2 abreast is to make it EASIER for motorists to overtake. If a group of cyclists ride single file then they occupy twice as much "length" on the road. Primary road positioning and two or three abreast nonsense will just antagonise maniacs driving two tonnes of metal.
No chance. If you don't hit em with the nearside wing mirror it's a safe pass.
Good one.Jazzer said:
Jesus!!
I never said the problem was with cyclists, but I do think their proliferation on already congested roads is an issue.
1. Why shouldn’t cyclists pay road tax?
2. Something clearly needs to give here, or should we sit back and watch death tolls in accidents involving cyclists continue to rise?
3. Fewer cars, fewer cycles and a bit of education would help, as would some degree of taxation....
1. Well, ok, just in case you haven't picked it up yet... because road tax was abolished in 1937 by Winston Churchill, and you've never paid a penny of it in your life. The tax you're probably thinking of is a vehicle tax, which is an emissions based tax, which does increase if the vehicle costs over £40k. Have a guess how much tax is levied for a bicycle?I never said the problem was with cyclists, but I do think their proliferation on already congested roads is an issue.
1. Why shouldn’t cyclists pay road tax?
2. Something clearly needs to give here, or should we sit back and watch death tolls in accidents involving cyclists continue to rise?
3. Fewer cars, fewer cycles and a bit of education would help, as would some degree of taxation....
2. I agree, something really has and it's high time it happened. There are millions, possibly tens of millions, of cyclists missing from our roads. All those cyclists you find in Europe, the Europe which does not seem to have a problem providing cycling infrastructure for, the cyclists in ordinary clothes riding ordinary bikes, we hardly have any here. Unfortunately the pandemic has put a dampener on public transport. The millions of people who used public transport on a daily basis can't just suddenly use cars instead. Not only was traffic congestion absolutely chronic before the pandemic, there simply isn't the parking space for millions of extra cars.
As for the "death tolls in accidents involving cyclists continue to rise" - well it isn't rising, it's been fairly stagnant for some time, went down 2% in 2018 and 1% in 2019, plus global evidence shows that cyclists are more safe when there are more numbers of them.
3. Depending on who you believe, pollution levels this year have gone down considerably with the significant reduction in car use due to the pandemic. For this reason, and reasons mentioned above, we have got to have fewer cars on the roads. As for taxation, well the ownership of a bicycle doesn't make any difference to your tax bill, but I do think it's time to look at the private car.
For instance, I think it's unfair that cars can be kept on the roads overnight without paying for the benefit. Parked cars are an enormous source of congestion, in residential streets they prevent children from playing in the street safely, they increase pollution by preventing traffic from flowing freely, they make it dangerous to cross the road, parked cars are a hazard for cyclists due to the 'door zone', and in any case, why on earth should anyone be able to store personal property on public land? It's got to stop.
So I suggest that if you ever want to park or keep a car on the road at all at any time, you can't do so without a paper disc in the window, and it's a £1000 a year. And why not? We have a major crisis on our hands and we need to raise money. Tax is going to go up anyway, for everybody I assume, it's all got to be levied somehow.
So, there you are, hope this is something to mull over, let us know what you think.
heebeegeetee said:
1. Well, ok, just in case you haven't picked it up yet... because road tax was abolished in 1937 by Winston Churchill, and you've never paid a penny of it in your life. The tax you're probably thinking of is a vehicle tax, which is an emissions based tax, which does increase if the vehicle costs over £40k. Have a guess how much tax is levied for a bicycle?
2. I agree, something really has and it's high time it happened. There are millions, possibly tens of millions, of cyclists missing from our roads. All those cyclists you find in Europe, the Europe which does not seem to have a problem providing cycling infrastructure for, the cyclists in ordinary clothes riding ordinary bikes, we hardly have any here. Unfortunately the pandemic has put a dampener on public transport. The millions of people who used public transport on a daily basis can't just suddenly use cars instead. Not only was traffic congestion absolutely chronic before the pandemic, there simply isn't the parking space for millions of extra cars.
As for the "death tolls in accidents involving cyclists continue to rise" - well it isn't rising, it's been fairly stagnant for some time, went down 2% in 2018 and 1% in 2019, plus global evidence shows that cyclists are more safe when there are more numbers of them.
3. Depending on who you believe, pollution levels this year have gone down considerably with the significant reduction in car use due to the pandemic. For this reason, and reasons mentioned above, we have got to have fewer cars on the roads. As for taxation, well the ownership of a bicycle doesn't make any difference to your tax bill, but I do think it's time to look at the private car.
For instance, I think it's unfair that cars can be kept on the roads overnight without paying for the benefit. Parked cars are an enormous source of congestion, in residential streets they prevent children from playing in the street safely, they increase pollution by preventing traffic from flowing freely, they make it dangerous to cross the road, parked cars are a hazard for cyclists due to the 'door zone', and in any case, why on earth should anyone be able to store personal property on public land? It's got to stop.
So I suggest that if you ever want to park or keep a car on the road at all at any time, you can't do so without a paper disc in the window, and it's a £1000 a year. And why not? We have a major crisis on our hands and we need to raise money. Tax is going to go up anyway, for everybody I assume, it's all got to be levied somehow.
So, there you are, hope this is something to mull over, let us know what you think.
You’re keen2. I agree, something really has and it's high time it happened. There are millions, possibly tens of millions, of cyclists missing from our roads. All those cyclists you find in Europe, the Europe which does not seem to have a problem providing cycling infrastructure for, the cyclists in ordinary clothes riding ordinary bikes, we hardly have any here. Unfortunately the pandemic has put a dampener on public transport. The millions of people who used public transport on a daily basis can't just suddenly use cars instead. Not only was traffic congestion absolutely chronic before the pandemic, there simply isn't the parking space for millions of extra cars.
As for the "death tolls in accidents involving cyclists continue to rise" - well it isn't rising, it's been fairly stagnant for some time, went down 2% in 2018 and 1% in 2019, plus global evidence shows that cyclists are more safe when there are more numbers of them.
3. Depending on who you believe, pollution levels this year have gone down considerably with the significant reduction in car use due to the pandemic. For this reason, and reasons mentioned above, we have got to have fewer cars on the roads. As for taxation, well the ownership of a bicycle doesn't make any difference to your tax bill, but I do think it's time to look at the private car.
For instance, I think it's unfair that cars can be kept on the roads overnight without paying for the benefit. Parked cars are an enormous source of congestion, in residential streets they prevent children from playing in the street safely, they increase pollution by preventing traffic from flowing freely, they make it dangerous to cross the road, parked cars are a hazard for cyclists due to the 'door zone', and in any case, why on earth should anyone be able to store personal property on public land? It's got to stop.
So I suggest that if you ever want to park or keep a car on the road at all at any time, you can't do so without a paper disc in the window, and it's a £1000 a year. And why not? We have a major crisis on our hands and we need to raise money. Tax is going to go up anyway, for everybody I assume, it's all got to be levied somehow.
So, there you are, hope this is something to mull over, let us know what you think.
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