Best way to travel 5 miles to a train station?

Velvet () gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

Really? How much is VED for a bicycle currently? DVLA's website doesn't
seem to say.

Presumably, according to your logic, I would only need buy one tax disc to
cover several cars?

 

Good point. What about the fact that it's paid for by our council tax bills?

A

 

Uninsured? I don't think so. I can't speak for anyone else but I've
several possible policies that cover me when cycling. So that makes your
100% instantly wrong. But I guess you knew that.

*Cough*
Hypothecation.

Go look it up.

 

I'm insured. So, not 100%.

 

chris harrison wrote

Of course I knew that but you are not *required* by law to provide proof
of your competence or the suitability/safety of you machine or carry
insurance or a whole host of other things that everybody else travelling
between the kerbs is obliged to do.

You want a voice? You want representation? You want to be taken notice
of? Then, like the rest of us, start paying for it.

I don't have to if I don't want to.

 

davek wrote

A bit pointless if you get your dream of a people powered transport
system.

 

Andrewr At Work () gurgled happily,
sounding much like they were saying :

Traffic wardens? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....

What are they?

It may well do. However, a traffic warden would cost the council money.

And that'd *never* do.

(I wasn't the one who raised the complaint, btw)

It's not so much that - more the inconvenience and expense about to be
caused to me as a result of the inconsideration of those who seem to think
£2/day is too much to pay to use the station car park.

 

You seem to forget that there is no road duty for anybody. Roads are
paid for out of general taxation and most cyclists pay their due share
of general taxation. Most are also paying for their license(s) to use a
motor vehicle, even though cycling means they are not using it leading
to less congestion and road damage than if they did the journey by car
instead. To a large extent, most cyclists are subsidising the road
system for other users.

As for white van free zones, I think you will find that they are
installed by well meaning but misguided non cyclists in the Council
transport departments. Most regular cyclists would rather not have them
but so far we have failed to convince councils not to install them,
mainly because non-cyclists in Government have set them targets to make
themselves appear environment friendly.

Tony

 

Yes, there is.

push bike riders = suicidal scooter rider type
cyclist = something in between motorcyclist and biker.

 

I don't expect to have to pay for something I didn't ask for and don't
want - the vast majority of cycle lanes are so badly designed and
implemented that they aren't worth the paint.

In any case, the cost comes out of the council tax that everyone pays,
cyclists and non-cyclists alike. I'd rather the council put the money
towards more useful things - such as speed cameras.

d.

 

There's no such thing as "road duty". Vehicle Excise Duty is not
earmarked for anything in particular and goes into the same pool as
other general taxation. Which is the same common pool used to fund the
roads. So anyone paying any general taxation, including VAT and income
tax, is funding the roads.

But as has been pointed out, the majority of adult cyclists also drive,
so the majority are this paying Vehicle Excise Duty in any case. But by
choosing to cycle rather than drive they cause less wear on the roads
and less congestion.

Pete.

 

Adrian wrote

It always amuses me how people fail to think through were the council
gets its money from. What you meant to say was the council would have
to charge you more council tax to cover the cost. Now ask how many of
your neighbours would like to pay more council tax.

Tony

 

<snip sillyness>

Ride a motorbike into central London. I've been doing it for nearly 7
years from various locations - closest being Sevenoaks (20 miles each
way), furthest being Dover (80 miles each way).

At the moment I go from Haywards Heath - 65 miles each way. It takes
me 1 hour door to door and that is pretty consistent regardless of
traffic once you learn to 'make progress'. Even when there are
train/tube strikes and the roads are grid-locked it makes little
difference. Its ace.

Parking in central London is free for bikes and they dont pay
congestion charge. Admittedly I had 2 bikes stolen this year but I now
always chain mine to some big railings and they're the only 2 in 7
years.

Only 1 crash while commuting in all that time (150,000 miles).

OK, its a bit of a grind in mid-winter, but just get on with it and
stop being a fucking girl.

Its a bloody hoot and becomes quite addictive. It improves your riding
and keeps your skills sharp.

Driving a car to a train station? FFS.

 

Where did I suggest that 2 or 3 per 150 is 1 in 300?

I admit I was quite surprised to find that the number of bike miles:car
miles was 1:100. However when talking about deaths, cars travel faster, a
collision is more likely to result in death. More anecdotal evidence, I've
been hit by a bike rider twice in the last 9 months, I've been kit by a
car 0 times ever. I've almost been hit (had to jump back of zebras when I
was crossing infront of a stopped car because a bike has decided to ignore
my right of way) a dozen times by bikes, maybe 2 by cars, and 3 times by
motorbikes.

Surely I should be hit by a car 100 times more then a bike, and nearly hit
by a car 100 times more then nearly hit by a bike?

A large number of bike riders, and probably everyone in this group, are
legal, but from my experience I'm sad to say the majority arent. They jump
red lights, ignore zebras, ride on pavements and the paths through
shepherds bush green (theres a segregated cycle way too!). If one bike
stops at a red light, others usually will, but a ood bike rider is very
rare indeed. The lycraclad bike geeks are generally better then the
average rider, but they're not perfect by a long shot.

Pedestrian-Bike collisions are rarely reported so any statistics are
irellevent.

I am well aware, as a past, and probably soon to be future, bike rider,
that many cars are buggers when it comes to driving, but you only tend to
remember the bad ones. When I used to drive (I dont own a car any more as
there's no justification in the middle of London). I was always courteous
to bikes riding safely. Always beeped my horn or flashed my lights when
they shot out of side roads or the wrong way up one way streets, or
dressed in black with no lights at night (or those flashing LED
lights that make judging distance impossible) though.

 

chris harrison wrote

No there isn't. Maybe in little remote country villages there is but in
those places where ditching the cage really does make good sense there
is no room for sharing and never will there be. Mixing slow/fast
wide/narrow traffic is downright stupidity. Segregation is the only
answer.

 

Paying tax, you just said. How much is a "Colnago"? If I didn't pay tax I
could buy a freaking plane after a few years, I pay more tax then rent.

 

Most cyclists don't actually. There's plenty of space for everyone to
interact so long as everyone treats everyone else with a little courtesy
and consideration.

 

davek wrote

It is because you don't bloody pay. You are never going to have a
credible voice if you insist on continuing with this.

 

£0 per year. But many cyclists (probably most, and probably higher then
average) have at least one car in their household.

 

Ambrose Nankivell wrote

Eh?