Cycling UK Forum

Steam powered vehicles are also exempt. Both by most of them being older than 1972 anyway and the fact they're steam powered.

My father used to own an 8 ton Aveling and Porter roller. It didn't need to pay vehicle excise duty as it was road construction equipment.

Once, while rolling a chalky station yard in the wet we had to insert to differential locking pin to get unstuck. When we took the pin out again only half came out: it had sheared inside the differential (the pin was roughly 3x5 inches in cross-section of solid steel...). Every corner on the way home we left huge white marks on the road as the rear wheels skidded on the tarmac. Good thing it was a roller with smooth steel tyres, otherwise we'd have been road destruction equipment...

As well as being a CTC member I make a monthly contribution to Sustrans and would argue that this is my cycle path tax! I know Sustrans has been very successful in obtaining lottery money to fund their larger capital projects but there are many small supporters who help fund their work. As it was once said that "gambling is a tax on fools" perhaps cyclists are well funded by fools and the motorist, some would argue that at times the two are groups are one!

Winston Churchill when he was an MP actually opposed the concept of a "Road Tax" on the grounds that:

"It will only be a step from this for them to claim in a few years the moral ownership of the roads their contributions have created".

Even in these days when the VED is a general taxation, there are those who prove just how shrewd a judge of Character Churchill was!

On the Tonight programme last night on ITV (3 - 11 - 09) it was stated everal times ties that cyclists pay nothing towards the cost of roads - and it went unchallenged. Is it any wonder that ITV current affairs ratings are so low when they fail to correct even this simple error from contributors.

By the way, not a great prog. Asked for opinions on a cyclist undertaking a car turning left but for a car overtaking a cyclist then immediately turning left across their front - a far more common occurance (at least in my experience)

I spent three years driving a moggy 1000 and loved every tax-free minute.
Road tax is so badly administered its a joke. The environmental argument doesn't hold water when I can go out and buy any pre 73 vehicle and fit any engine I like to it. Then there's the poor sods who bought 'big' after 2001. So a 2001 Mondeo will cost more to tax than an identical Mondeo registered a few months earlier.

One more reason why I love riding the bike. Should anyone else point out to me I don't pay road tax on it I laugh in their face and say "Yeah, its great isnt it..."
Its not like they're forced to pay it either- they can jump on a bike too.

It is not road tax actually but Vehicle Excise Duty and is based on CO2 emissions and type of fuel used, there are even some cars avaliable now which are tax exempt due to very low emissions (band A-up to 100CO2g/km). I know for sure my bicycle has zero emissions and as for fuel it doesn't use any!! Have a look at this website- http://ipayroadtax.com

Toasted tea cake wrote:It is not road tax actually but Vehicle Excise Duty and is based on CO2 emissions and type of fuel used, there are even some cars avaliable now which are tax exempt due to very low emissions (band A-up to 100CO2g/km). I know for sure my bicycle has zero emissions and as for fuel it doesn't use any!! Have a look at this website- http://ipayroadtax.com

I doubt you have zero emissions...
You breathe, so you will be emitting more carbon dioxide per mile than you would be in a car

Of course the levels of emissions, and the source of the carbon are both more sustainable than any other motorised system.

[XAP]Bob wrote:
I doubt you have zero emissions...
You breathe, so you will be emitting more carbon dioxide per mile than you would be in a car

Of course the levels of emissions, and the source of the carbon are both more sustainable than any other motorised system.

No as this thread proves it:- viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31217

Let's say this clearly:

Road Tax does not exist in the UK.

It has not existed since 1937.

Vehicle Excise Duty goes into the general taxation pot and is not reserved for roads.

We all pay for roads out of general taxation, even if we never so much as step on a road.

Motorists pay more tax, because they do more damage to the built environment and they need more infrastructure.

Even so, VED does not pay for all of it, so -we are all subsidising the motorist, whether we have a car or not.

Give them a slap and tell them to stop whingeing . . .

I doubt you have zero emissions...
You breathe, so you will be emitting more carbon dioxide per mile than you would be in a car

But when I'm driving I'm still breathing, its the vehicle emissions that count not the people in it or on it!

Exhaled carbon dioxide doesn't count, whether you're riding a bike or sitting in a car.

By burning fossil fuels, you are releasing the carbon captured by the trees/marine life/whatever, thousands of years ago, when the oil/coal was formed. These are the emissions that are doing the damage, as the atmosphere can't cope with all this extra carbon. Cyclists don't burn fossil fuels, so don't contribute to this problem.

It is not road tax actually but Vehicle Excise Duty and is based on CO2 emissions and type of fuel used

After 2001 yes. Cars older than this date fall into two simple categories based on capacity.
You can play the system both ways though. You can tax a 2000 Mondeo Ghia X for less than you can tax a 2002 Mondeo Ghia X - on the flip side you can tax a 2002 Fiesta 1.3 for less than a 2000 Fiesta 1.3.

Big T wrote:Exhaled carbon dioxide doesn't count, whether you're riding a bike or sitting in a car.

By burning fossil fuels, you are releasing the carbon captured by the trees/marine life/whatever, thousands of years ago, when the oil/coal was formed. These are the emissions that are doing the damage, as the atmosphere can't cope with all this extra carbon. Cyclists don't burn fossil fuels, so don't contribute to this problem.

Well "Act on CO2's carbon calculator" still states that to lower my carbon emissions, my bike needs replacing with a car. Apparently cycling to work, the shops, the gym, to holidays etc,etc,etc, produces more carbon than driving. My guilt complex since I got rid of the car in 1998 would be huge, but fortunately I'm happy to pollute (Though ashamed my neighbours both drive to work, so presumably produce less pollution than myself).

gbnz wrote:Well "Act on CO2's carbon calculator" still states that to lower my carbon emissions, my bike needs replacing with a car. Apparently cycling to work, the shops, the gym, to holidays etc,etc,etc, produces more carbon than driving. My guilt complex since I got rid of the car in 1998 would be huge, but fortunately I'm happy to pollute (Though ashamed my neighbours both drive to work, so presumably produce less pollution than myself).

How do you manage that? Are you having your meals flown in specially?