"Mike Marlow" <mmarlow@alltel.net> wrote in message
news:a2f26$461e01b8$45289716$26209@ALLTEL.NET...
>
> "Doki" <mrdoki@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:461de294$0$6945$fa0fcedb@news.zen.co.uk...
>>
>> "Huge" <huge@huge.uk> wrote in message
>> news:PqadnYvrra9eUYvbRVnytwA@bt.com...
>> >
>> > "Brian Nystrom" <brian.nystrom@verizon.net> wrote in message
>> > news:a5qRh.9046$hI4.8448@trndny08...
>> >> As a cyclist, this is aggravating as it's hard enough to get drivers
>> >> to
>> >> share the road without some moron like this guy encouraging them to
>> >> "knock us off".
>> >
>> > When you pay, then you'll have a say.
>>
>> Already paid. A ****ing shitload of VAT and Tax, and VED on my car, and
>> FWIW, tax money isn't kept in seperate pots - they don't have a pot full
> of
>> cash from car drivers to spend on fixing the roads any more than they
>> have
> a
>> pot from smokers specifically for curing lung cancer - they just shove it
>> all in one lump. Having bikes taxed a la Switzerland will not raise any
>> serious amounts of cash.
>>
>
> When you buy a second or a third or a fourth car, do you get to drive them
> on the roads for free simply because you've already paid highway use fees
> on
> your first car? No. You pay for each vehicle you're going to drive. Let
> bicyclists pay registration fees to use the roads as well if they want to
> be
> so demanding of their privileges.

Privileges such as riding on roads that I have a legal right to? If horses
were more common, would you want them to have tax disks too? The fact is
that VED is not a tax that gives you the right to use the road - it's not
been called Road Fund Licence for a very long time now. It's just a tax on
ownings cars that are taken on the road, to ensure that everyone keeps their
cars registered and to raise a bit of cash.

I imagine the original Road Fund Licence came about due to the fact that
cars and commercials do far more damage to the roads than cycles.