Tax-insurance whining motorists

downfader
downfader Posts: 3,686
edited February 2010 in The bottom bracket
Is anyone else getting a little sick of non-cycling motorists whining on about us not paying taxes and insurance for riding a bike (and under our own steam, unlike them)?

A couple of other forums I frequent, who shall remain nameless, have users banging on about this again. I'm used to it on youtube, but its just the fact they use it as an excuse for how some drivers act like c*cks. These c*cks do this to other drivers ffs, so how the hell will a change in tax or insurance status stop this? Its hyperbole at best.

end rant

Comments

  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,437
    they're ignorant idiots

    the tax they whine about is based on co2 emissions, get a low emission car and it'll be band 'a' with zero tax

    presumably the idiots also want to ban low emission vehicles for not paying tax

    but even the highest band for a car is only about 400 quid/year, which is negligible

    income tax, vat, council tax etc. are what pay for the roads, and i pay a **** of a lot more of that than the majority of the whiners do, so by their own argument they should be banned from the roads so that high-rate tax paying cyclists can enjoy the roads they are paying for

    and i'm insured too
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Car owners are not so snooty when, after one idiot in gravesend clanged into me, at a mini roundabout, he came out with the ever popular, "sorry mate, I didn't see you, mind you,you shouldn't even be on the roads 'cos you don't pay tax..". I replied, telling him, Tax is now based on emissions and I am exempt and then bent down, took my trusty multitool and cut the valve off his drivers side front tyre, and told him "Betcha saw that"
    He was not amused as I pedalled away but I hope he got the point.

    I regret doing it now, but people who drive into me at 6:30pm on a summers night, on a clear roundabout get right on my tits.
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    sungod wrote:
    they're ignorant idiots

    the tax they whine about is based on co2 emissions, get a low emission car and it'll be band 'a' with zero tax

    presumably the idiots also want to ban low emission vehicles for not paying tax

    but even the highest band for a car is only about 400 quid/year, which is negligible

    income tax, vat, council tax etc. are what pay for the roads, and i pay a **** of a lot more of that than the majority of the whiners do, so by their own argument they should be banned from the roads so that high-rate tax paying cyclists can enjoy the roads they are paying for

    and i'm insured too

    Think of it this way too: you pay more national insurance than a lot of them if you earn more - you deserve to be seen first when you go to the GP or A&E :wink:
  • Ands
    Ands Posts: 1,437
    The whingers easily forget about the 'road tax' dodgers and target only cyclists (many of whom are also motorists and pay their VED). No idea what the current figure is but a few years ago the DVLA estimated that there were about 2m road tax dodgers in the UK. :roll:
  • wicked
    wicked Posts: 844
    dmclite wrote:
    Car owners are not so snooty when, after one idiot in gravesend clanged into me, at a mini roundabout, he came out with the ever popular, "sorry mate, I didn't see you, mind you,you shouldn't even be on the roads 'cos you don't pay tax..". I replied, telling him, Tax is now based on emissions and I am exempt and then bent down, took my trusty multitool and cut the valve off his drivers side front tyre, and told him "Betcha saw that"
    He was not amused as I pedalled away but I hope he got the point.

    I regret doing it now, but people who drive into me at 6:30pm on a summers night, on a clear roundabout get right on my tits.

    Well done sir! :D
    It’s the most beautiful sport in the world but it’s governed by ***ts who have turned it into a crock of ****.
  • dmclite wrote:
    Car owners are not so snooty when, after one idiot in gravesend clanged into me, at a mini roundabout, he came out with the ever popular, "sorry mate, I didn't see you, mind you,you shouldn't even be on the roads 'cos you don't pay tax..". I replied, telling him, Tax is now based on emissions and I am exempt and then bent down, took my trusty multitool and cut the valve off his drivers side front tyre, and told him "Betcha saw that"
    He was not amused as I pedalled away but I hope he got the point.

    I regret doing it now, but people who drive into me at 6:30pm on a summers night, on a clear roundabout get right on my tits.

    Your verbal response was excellent but criminal damage is never acceptable. IMO.
  • downfader wrote:
    Think of it this way too: you pay more national insurance than a lot of them if you earn more - you deserve to be seen first when you go to the GP or A&E :wink:

    That is EXACTLY what I told this idiot who was giving me a hard time a while ago! You should have seen the blank stare he gave me!! And I was going to mention that the VAT I paid on my bike, too, but I thought I was having enough fun as it was...! :wink:
  • nwallace
    nwallace Posts: 1,465
    I'm waiting for 4x4 drivers who pay £800 for 12 months VED to discover that my 2 cars are both classed PLG and therefore not taxed based on Emissions but on Engine size.
    Do Nellyphants count?

    Commuter: FCN 9
    Cheapo Roadie: FCN 5
    Off Road: FCN 11

    +1 when I don't get round to shaving for x days
  • downfader wrote:
    Is anyone else getting a little sick of non-cycling motorists whining on about us not paying taxes and insurance for riding a bike

    Whenever I hear this I just say it doesn't concern me as I don't bother taxing or insuring my car either. It usually confuses them or sends them into a spluttering rage, both of which are funny.
  • shouldbeinbed
    shouldbeinbed Posts: 2,660
    edited January 2010
    I've taken 3 options

    1) the pedantic maths teacher explain them into coma on emissions and relative road damage and the other forms of funding for the road and the fact it's not a road tax its a VEL.

    2) Politely ask them if I'd have to pay less if I rode everywhere on the pavement.

    3) Ask them where their licence is for listeningto the radio in the car. when they tell me its part of their TV licence, I explain that my bike is part of my car tax disc.

    I always make sure to tell them I'm insured too.
  • Cressers
    Cressers Posts: 1,329
    Cyclists pay VAT.
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    Porta105 wrote:

    Before I was banned from the Daily Mail website I got in an "argument" with a motorist over this. I was quite clear why we dont pay it, and perfectly polite about it too. He wanted every single bike we own to be taxed at the same rate as his car (£220 iirc), I made the point about those that own cars and leave them at home but he just wouldnt have it. A real fanatic. :?
  • dmclite wrote:
    bent down, took my trusty multitool and cut the valve off his drivers side front tyre, and told him "Betcha saw that"
    He was not amused as I pedalled away but I hope he got the point.

    Dude, car's have a spare wheel, you need to do 2 tyres...! :lol:
    Giant Reign - now sold :-(
    Rockhopper Pro - XC and commuting
    DH8 - New toy :-)
  • Cressers wrote:
    Cyclists pay VAT.

    many cyclists pay tax and NI and any other form of contribution to the general road pot too

    yet we make zero emissions and cause massively less wear, tear and damage to the road surface than well over a ton of designed for downforce motor vehicle with 4 far more grippy tyres pulling at a much larger surface area of the road.

    we should be getting a tax rebate
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    Cressers wrote:
    Cyclists pay VAT.

    many cyclists pay tax and NI and any other form of contribution to the general road pot too

    yet we make zero emissions and cause massively less wear, tear and damage to the road surface than well over a ton of designed for downforce motor vehicle with 4 far more grippy tyres pulling at a much larger surface area of the road.

    we should be getting a tax rebate

    Another motorist elsewhere moaned about "you wanna pay an equivilent tax on the petrol we pay". He didnt seem to get that we use our own energy. :lol:

    I still say it: why pay taxes for doing something off you're own back, cars have to rely on a lot of fuel to move at the same speeds and distances. I can do it on an apple.
  • rake
    rake Posts: 3,204
    i wonder if their kids ride bikes gocarts skateboards or roller skates. if so they will have to stop if taxation is bought in because they arent old enough to have a liscence. then theres horses which are heavy and have metal shoes.? i think a fair amount for taxation taking everything into account, road wear,emissions, noise, danger, parking space etc would be £1 per year.
  • downfader wrote:

    Another motorist elsewhere moaned about "you wanna pay an equivilent tax on the petrol we pay". He didnt seem to get that we use our own energy. :lol:

    Typical of the culture of "jealosy and envy" sadly prevailing in the UK. Like "I'm unhappy b/c I pay tax, so you have to be unhappy too".

    I'm foreign, and I always thought that the British way of life is "live and let live". Unfortunately, I'm noticing that is not the case anymore. Sad really. :cry:
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    downfader wrote:

    Before I was banned from the Daily Mail website

    That's genuinely something to be proud of!
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    bails87 wrote:
    downfader wrote:

    Before I was banned from the Daily Mail website

    That's genuinely something to be proud of!

    I think I wound up a few morons on there. :lol: Signed up under another email address and so it begins again! :lol:
  • 1.5 million motorists pay zero VED (including the Queen and Panda cars): http://ipayroadtax.com/?p=236

    Who Pays For Roads? poster: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carltonrei ... 5/sizes/l/

    Subsidies for cyclists: http://ipayroadtax.com/?p=50

    Black or white zero Bicycle Excise Duty jerseys: http://www.foska.com/road-jerseys/mens/ ... -mens.html

    Why licensing for cyclists is daft idea: http://ipayroadtax.com/?p=85

    History of 'road tax' (1909-1936): http://ipayroadtax.com/?p=54

    "There has been no direct relationship between vehicle tax and road expenditure since 1937."
    Policy and External Communications Directorate, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Swansea, August 2009

    http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/1 ... y.pdf.html
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    Doesn't the upkeep of roads come from VAT anyway, so technically no-body pays 'road tax'? Also is it true that Winston Churchill stopped road tax because he felt it would make motorists feel that they owned the roads? So many questions....

    Edit - just saw above post. No more questions now.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • jobysp
    jobysp Posts: 68
    Most of the people who make comments about you not paying road tax just don't get enough sex because they are fat and ignorant - much like all the naysayers against Michael Jackson.

    Get off your bike, throw your bike at their car and ring the police. Tell them they where ranting about you not paying road tax and ran you off the road. (as long as there are not witnesses of course).
    My cycle blog at www.biking2work.co.uk and check out www.fightbaddriving.co.uk.
  • jobysp wrote:
    Most of the people who make comments about you not paying road tax just don't get enough sex because they are fat and ignorant - much like all the naysayers against Michael Jackson.

    Get off your bike, throw your bike at their car and ring the police. Tell them they where ranting about you not paying road tax and ran you off the road. (as long as there are not witnesses of course).
    Whoosh There goes the moral high ground :shock:
  • jobysp
    jobysp Posts: 68
    Twas a joke, but unfortunately, ignoring these people isn't going to get us anywhere is it.
    My cycle blog at www.biking2work.co.uk and check out www.fightbaddriving.co.uk.
  • GiantMike
    GiantMike Posts: 3,139
    People who winge about other drivers/riders on the road are just ignorant feckers. There is no point arguing with them, either on the web or face to face.

    My usual retort usually works:

    "I earn a feck load more money than you and I'm not sitting next to a fat cow in a sh!tty old [insert name of car here]. I win"

    Insult driver, wife and car in a single sentence. Claim dominance with the next. Pure economy.
  • Is anyone else getting a little sick of non-cycling motorists whining on about us not paying taxes and insurance for riding a bike (and under our own steam, unlike them)?

    not really. It's funny watching them go quiet when I tell them that I pay taxes and am insured.
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    jobysp wrote:
    Most of the people who make comments about you not paying road tax just don't get enough sex because they are fat and ignorant - much like all the naysayers against Michael Jackson.

    Get off your bike, throw your bike at their car and ring the police. Tell them they where ranting about you not paying road tax and ran you off the road. (as long as there are not witnesses of course).

    LOL I've only just put Open Pros on the Jake 6 months back, no chance of that. :lol:

    MJ was a ***** though. :wink::lol: