Squiggs Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 no we are not equal I pay road tax and insurance No you don't. You are either confused or a liar regarding taxation Nevertheless, you have an equal right to ride a bicycle without VED or insurance as anyone else. So explain how this is inequality? Or is it simply that you CHOOSE not to exercise that right (which is your business) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hicksy3 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 no we are not equal I pay road tax and insurance Actually I do pay third party insurance for my bike. DVLA wouldn't like me calling them asking how to tax a cycle as it's such a STUPID idea. Given that it does 1000-10000 times less damage to the carriageway than your Mundano, is it worth collecting what it costs in road upkeep? Fourth power law, damage done to a carriageway is proportional to fourth power of axle load. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0307904X01000798 Thus, a bike weighing 1/10th what a car does, doesn't do 10 times less damage. It does 10*10*10*10 less damage. This blog post even seems to suggest that cyclists subsidise motorists. When you think that riding a bike instead of driving a car that I've already paid road tax on will make less potholes, why don't I get a tax refund? What was it, you woke up this morning and thought 'I know, I'll go and talk c*@p!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 It doesn't give all other cyclists a bad name. It can't. It does, because a proportion of motorists (see how I don't attribute it to all of them) seem to believe that all cyclists are the same, and they use the behaviour of one as an excuse to endanger the rest. Extrapolating from one cyclist to all others is faulty logic- simple as that. I know that, and you know that. But some people aren't that clever. I'm not saying people don't 'think': "that cyclist did something wrong, therefore all cyclists are the same"- they do. But it's got no basis in rationality- it is in fact prejudice. That doesn't alter the fact that they still think this, and so it still increases the risk to me. ---------- Post added 04-05-2015 at 08:53 ---------- I will show respect for cyclist when they show respect for me .they should have to observe road signs like other road uses Good news. I obey the road signs. So you can start respecting cyclists now. Let us know how you get on please. ---------- Post added 04-05-2015 at 08:55 ---------- no we are not equal I pay road tax and insurance So it's nothing to do with signs now? I'll stick the cheque for £0.00 in the post immediately, and my home insurance covers me for cycling. I pay more VED than you (assuming you have a Mondeo), so can I expect you to pull over the next time you see me drive up behind you? ---------- Post added 04-05-2015 at 08:56 ---------- Actually I do pay third party insurance for my bike. DVLA wouldn't like me calling them asking how to tax a cycle as it's such a STUPID idea. Given that it does 1000-10000 times less damage to the carriageway than your Mundano, is it worth collecting what it costs in road upkeep? Fourth power law, damage done to a carriageway is proportional to fourth power of axle load. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0307904X01000798 Thus, a bike weighing 1/10th what a car does, doesn't do 10 times less damage. It does 10*10*10*10 less damage. This blog post even seems to suggest that cyclists subsidise motorists. When you think that riding a bike instead of driving a car that I've already paid road tax on will make less potholes, why don't I get a tax refund? What was it, you woke up this morning and thought 'I know, I'll go and talk c*@p!" And VED doesn't even pay for roads, general taxation does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutch Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 And VED doesn't even pay for roads, general taxation does. You cannot teach a monkey these complicated things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
native son Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 As a cyclist for pleasure and supporter of cycling amongst other sports could I urge all other cyclists to stop posting on any cycling/anti cycling threads. They simply don't understand. They have an irrational dislike of cycling and we are just encouraging their stupidity by trying to reason with them. We can't, no amount of reasoned argument can get through to these pathetic narrow minded fools. Stop wasting your time with them, get out and ride instead. They will soon go away when no one retaliates to their ill thought out, misguided opinions. Just ignore them, you never know they might find a subject worthy of shouting about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eater Sundae Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 As a cyclist for pleasure and supporter of cycling amongst other sports could I urge all other cyclists to stop posting on any cycling/anti cycling threads. They simply don't understand. They have an irrational dislike of cycling and we are just encouraging their stupidity by trying to reason with them. We can't, no amount of reasoned argument can get through to these pathetic narrow minded fools. Stop wasting your time with them, get out and ride instead. They will soon go away when no one retaliates to their ill thought out, misguided opinions. Just ignore them, you never know they might find a subject worthy of shouting about. No. If repeating, ad nauseam, about primary position, or the need for adequate space when overtaking etc etc makes just one driver reconsider the way he drives around cyclists, then it is worthwhile. It might just save a life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
native son Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Going by the posts on this forum Do you really think even one of them will take any notice. Most of them are doing it to wind you up. Don't give them the satisfaction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eater Sundae Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Going by the posts on this forum Do you really think even one of them will take any notice. Most of them are doing it to wind you up. Don't give them the satisfaction Most, but not all. There are some that truly believe what they say, and so there is still hope that some of these can be re-educated. I'm not wound up, so they are wasting their time if that is what they're trying to achieve. I just respond dispassionately. If they choose to listen, then that is good. If they don't, then so what? We're no worse off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutch Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 (edited) As a cyclist for pleasure and supporter of cycling amongst other sports could I urge all other cyclists to stop posting on any cycling/anti cycling threads. They simply don't understand. They have an irrational dislike of cycling and we are just encouraging their stupidity by trying to reason with them. We can't, no amount of reasoned argument can get through to these pathetic narrow minded fools. Stop wasting your time with them, get out and ride instead. They will soon go away when no one retaliates to their ill thought out, misguided opinions. Just ignore them, you never know they might find a subject worthy of shouting about. Going by the posts on this forum Do you really think even one of them will take any notice. Most of them are doing it to wind you up. Don't give them the satisfaction I will waste few more seconds of my time to say one thing about this post as it is a very insightful, understanding and so far most intelligent thing said on all these 22 pages moaning about stuff that will never get sorted on this forum.. Edited May 5, 2015 by dutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 As a cyclist for pleasure and supporter of cycling amongst other sports could I urge all other cyclists to stop posting on any cycling/anti cycling threads. They simply don't understand. They have an irrational dislike of cycling and we are just encouraging their stupidity by trying to reason with them. We can't, no amount of reasoned argument can get through to these pathetic narrow minded fools. Stop wasting your time with them, get out and ride instead. They will soon go away when no one retaliates to their ill thought out, misguided opinions. Just ignore them, you never know they might find a subject worthy of shouting about. No. A lot of these motorists with their narrow-minded opinions and false beliefs about road tax etc are sincere. Being a regular driver in rush hour traffic must be incredibly frustrating and stressfull. Add on being ripped off by ever increasing insurance, dealing with bizarre one way systems and cameras that catch you out if you deviate from Sheffields bizarre and ever changing traffic rules. Then there's the extortionate parking fines, etc, etc. When they're taking a hour to cover a journey that, were the roads not congested beyond belief, would take 10 minutes, it's human nature to look for a scapegoat. And, if the thing directly in front of your eyes is a cyclist, then the cyclist will be the scapegoat. However, not all motorists are completely thick- when it's pointed out that the true cause of the congestion is actually the solid rows of parked cars down both sides of the road, and the opposite lane being gridlocked with cars, some are going to be able to engage with that observation, and modify their previous knee-jerk scapegoating of the cyclist. Same goes for the knee-jerk blaming of all cyclists, on the basis of those few who ride irresponsibly. I refuse to believe that all motorists are incapable of reason, so, it's always going to be worth posting facts and reasoned argument on these threads, even if it only makes 2% of participating motorists see things differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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