Bicycle number plates, insurance, tax etc

theoneandonly

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Just nit picking surely? Vehicle excise duty (or car tax) is a charge you have to pay to the government to use the roads. It’s based on a sliding scale based on the emissions your vehicle emits

No one on here is saying it’s ring fenced for maintaining the roads, or “drivers own the roads” but we do have to pay to use them.
Well my road tax is zero so no I don't .
 

theoneandonly

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Like I said, currently it’s on a sliding scale based on emissions. But this is just at the whim of the government. Do you really think it will be free for ever?
No idea , maybe there will be a GPS based usage system in the future. If you use the roads a lot then you pay more. Seems fair to me.
Also hardly a whim, plenty of old zero rated diesels out there.
 

Jimaroid

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Absolutely not. With the lost revenue on fuel sales and also BIK tax, road tax will be the first tax to be introduced to EV’s.

Third tax. After VAT on both purchase and energy.

But you know we could nit pick all day. The general issue is that the entire road transport system is out of balance and we’re just talking about rearranging the same old deck chairs. The whole system needs a complete overhaul for the future IMO but it’s pointless talking about it because it just degenerates into factless opinions.

As a cyclist I wear a helmet, sometimes dodge a red light by going on pavements and sometimes I even do a wheelie. ?

I also drive, pay VED on 3 vehicles, break the speed limit regularly and sometimes use my phone while driving.

The entire debate is full of hypocrisy from all sides.
 

bobmac

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It makes sense to me to pay so much per mile.
The more miles you do the more you pay.
So when your car is MOTd or serviced, the mileage is recorded and you pay what you've used.
I'd suggest 7-10p per 10 miles
 
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Fade and Die

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Third tax. After VAT on both purchase and energy.

But you know we could nit pick all day. The general issue is that the entire road transport system is out of balance and we’re just talking about rearranging the same old deck chairs. The whole system needs a complete overhaul for the future IMO but it’s pointless talking about it because it just degenerates into factless opinions.

As a cyclist I wear a helmet, sometimes dodge a red light by going on pavements and sometimes I even do a wheelie. ?

I also drive, pay VED on 3 vehicles, break the speed limit regularly and sometimes use my phone while driving.

The entire debate is full of hypocrisy from all sides.

As a cyclist I would be interested to get your reasoning for not requiring insurance if you take your bike on the public highway.

(Serious question, trying to get the discussion back on track.)
 

Jimaroid

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As a cyclist I would be interested to get your reasoning for not requiring insurance if you take your bike on the public highway.

(Serious question, trying to get the discussion back on track.)

I appreciate it's a serious question but I can't answer it because I am insured through membership of British Cycling.
 

Rooter

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Why is it a huge point?
If you want to drive on the road, you must pay a tax, if you don't drive on the road, you don't.
Therefore it is a tax you pay to use the road........road tax.
You are right that the amount you pay depends on the emissions but it's still a road tax in my house.
Call it what you want but don't tell me what to call it.
You'll be telling me I can't call our flag the Union Jack next.

I also think EVs should pay road tax, especially the big SUVs


It's a massive point Bob, and one that is rolled out to create this social divide and hatred toward people that use a form of transport!! It's utterly bonkers.

Road tax does not exist!!! Call it what you want in your house, but you are wrong.

It is not a tax to use the road, it is a tax to offset the emissions your combustion-engined vehicle makes.

So I pay for the roads through my general taxation. would you like to see my P60? Doesn't matter whether I drive one of my 2 cars (for which I pay VED), any of my bicycles, or screw it. I might walk on it! Either way, I have paid to use it regardless of how.
 

Rooter

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It makes sense to me to pay so much per mile.
The more miles you do the more you pay.
So when your car is MOTd or serviced, the mileage is recorded and you pay what you've used.
I'd suggest 7-10p per mile


So a small zero-emission EV should pay the same as my Diesel XC90? Where would the revenues go?
 

larmen

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I just got my vehicle tax reminder (V11Z) for my electric scooter. It's 0. I was just surprised that I had to actively reregister it.
 

GB72

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I can see the benefit of some for of identification on the bike and the need for some form of 3rd party liability insurance. Bikes can damange cars and injure people but, unless you are lucky and they stop, there is little chance of any claim against the cyclist and there is little chance of identification and, even then, you are looking at a costly civil case to recover damages. Seeing as most claims will be for small dings and paintwork damage, the amounts involved are enough to put a prerry decent dent in your wallet but not enough to justify court action.

Perhaps for the number plate equivalent, a system where the number identifies the cyclist and not the bike would work best as then it could be simply moved from bike to bike with no added work or cost.

I do not see the need for taxation beyond an admin cost to maintain records but I do see the benefit of identification and insurance.
 

Oddsocks

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It's a massive point Bob, and one that is rolled out to create this social divide and hatred toward people that use a form of transport!! It's utterly bonkers.

Road tax does not exist!!! Call it what you want in your house, but you are wrong.

It is not a tax to use the road, it is a tax to offset the emissions your combustion-engined vehicle makes.

So I pay for the roads through my general taxation. would you like to see my P60? Doesn't matter whether I drive one of my 2 cars (for which I pay VED), any of my bicycles, or screw it. I might walk on it! Either way, I have paid to use it regardless of how.

See this is where my head spins, unless the gov can show me that the tax I pay is invested in projects to improve the air quality of my emissions then it’s total rubbish.

No different to ulez and congestion.

To me the only fair system of tax is either on fuel as the heavy no efficient vehicles will pay through their MPG, or a sliding scale based on emmisions/vehicle weight/mileage.

Ie a standard new focus that’s pretty clean emissions wise as does little road damage, with an household allowance of 12k miles per year is £120 (£0.01ppm) - this car currently taxes at £35 per year so maybe that number needs to be 0.0025ppm. Then you look at some of the big 2.5ton 4ltr fuel guzzlers, £400 tax would equate to £0.033 ppm.

Buy the above formula I know one person with a new range svr who covered 4000miles last year yet his business partner with the same car covered almost 30,000.

I can still recall owning a van which I had to tax as it was parked on a public road that done 260 miles between MOT’s due to injury, yet my car that year covered 15,000 through work yet the car was cheaper to tax. This was around 2002.
 

clubchamp98

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Why is it a huge point?
If you want to drive on the road, you must pay a tax, if you don't drive on the road, you don't.
Therefore it is a tax you pay to use the road........road tax.
You are right that the amount you pay depends on the emissions but it's still a road tax in my house.
Call it what you want but don't tell me what to call it.
You'll be telling me I can't call our flag the Union Jack next.

I also think EVs should pay road tax, especially the big SUVs
They will soon when the gov miss the tax off ice cars.
I agree if they use the roads they should pay.
I pay for my car but if I choose to use my bike instead that should cover me.
 

clubchamp98

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Just nit picking surely? Vehicle excise duty (or car tax) is a charge you have to pay to the government to use the roads. It’s based on a sliding scale based on the emissions your vehicle emits

No one on here is saying it’s ring fenced for maintaining the roads, or “drivers own the roads” but we do have to pay to use them.
There is no emission from a bike though so would be exempt anyway atm.
But yes it’s road tax just renamed .
 
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