NEarly got side swiped this afternoon :(

[Doesnotcompute]

Pete Biggs wrote:

> Sorry about that line but my guess still is that you are more likely to get hit through road rage
> being confrontational than you would be otherwise.

*ding*

But that's not what you said

--
Dnc

 

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 13:26:54 +0100 someone who may be "Trevor Woodmore" <[email protected]>
wrote this:-

>You have to pay money to the government in order to be able to drive a car on the road,

Incorrect. You have to pay money to the government in order to place your car on public roads.

>and the amount you pay is not related to the benefits you recieve.

Another fundamental misunderstanding. Taxation is not a form of investment, where the individual
compares what they put in with what they get out.

>This is a tax on your use of the road

Incorrect. You may use the road without paying VED.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E I will always explain revoked
keys, unless the UK government prevents me using the RIP Act 2000.

 

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 12:41:46 +0100 someone who may be Chesney Christ <[email protected]>
wrote this:-

>I don't know about elsewhere, but in Belfast there are government-sponsored billboards everywhere
>that say quite clearly "make sure you pay your road tax".

Complain to the Advertising Standards bunch.

>I don't think there's a lot of point being pedantic about this one.

Nothing pedantic about it.

80 odd years ago someone said:

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

Winston Churchill was quite right on the matter. The claim continues to this day and is one of the
road lobby's sacred cows.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E I will always explain revoked
keys, unless the UK government prevents me using the RIP Act 2000.

 

[Chesney Christ]

A certain David Hansen, of uk.rec.cycling "fame", writes :
>On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 12:41:46 +0100 someone who may be Chesney Christ <[email protected]>
>wrote this:-
>
>>I don't know about elsewhere, but in Belfast there are government-sponsored billboards everywhere
>>that say quite clearly "make sure you pay your road tax".
>
>Complain to the Advertising Standards bunch.

It's a pretty common misunderstanding it seems :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2855089.stm http://www.nio.gov.uk/press/1999/mar/990331d-doe.htm
http://www.nics.gov.uk/press/env/030611a-env.htm
http://road-tax-motor-insurance.motor-insurance.uk.net/Motor-Insurance-Ro ad-Tax.htm

>Winston Churchill was quite right on the matter. The claim continues to this day and is one of the
>road lobby's sacred cows.

--

"Jokes mentioning ducks were considered particularly funny." - cnn.com

 

[Peter B]

"wafflyDIRTYcatLITTERhcsBOX" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >You have to pay money to the government in order to be able to drive a
car
> >on the road
>
> Not quite. If I don't own a car that is parked on the road, I don't have
to pay
> "road tax". I can drive a car on the road, but if it's not my car, I don't
have
> to pay "road tax" - you actually don't have to pay this "road tax" to be
able
> to drive a car on the road. Isuggest for that, you have to have a valid
driving
> licence and at least borrow/hire a car.

Quite right Helen. I've driven umpteen vehicles for which I've paid no tax whatsoever, in fact I've
been paid to drive them! I've never paid "road tax" in 33 years of motoring if it's assumed my wife
pays the "road tax" on her cars. This is because I've always had a company car in the UK for which
I make no contribution for it to be used on public roads. My employer pays excise duty on it and I
pay income tax and national insurance for the benefit in kind it's considered to be. So whether I
walk, cycle or drive on the Queens highway I pay the same "road tax" = none! But if it comes to an
argument then the income tax I pay for the car I use easily exceeds the "road tax" paid by others
so would they please keep out of my blinkin' way and stick to A and B roads rather than my
motorways ;-)

Pete

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 13:26:54 +0100, "Trevor Woodmore" <[email protected]> wrote (more or less):

>
>"wafflyDIRTYcatLITTERhcsBOX" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>
>> It's not pedantic - there is no such thing as road tax - simple. There is vehicle excise duty,
>> but no road tax and VED does not pay for the roads.
>Time
>> for a letter to the advertising standards I think ;-)
>
>Not pedentic?
>
>You have to pay money to the government in order to be able to drive a car on the road, and the
>amount you pay is not related to the benefits you recieve.

Err - yes it is. Or more particularly, the more damage to the road you wish to be allowed to incur,
the more you pay.

Damage to the roadway increases with the cube of the axle load.

Cycles - axle load ~ 500 N

Motorbike - axle load - ~2500 N

Small car - axle load - ~5,500 N

Family saloon - axle load ~8000 N

Artic lorry - axle load ~ 60,000 N

There are distinct tax rates for each of these categories.

>This is a tax on your use of the road - a 'Road Tax' in common parlance - the fact that this is not
>it's official name is irrelevant in the context it was used. You knew what the originator meant,
>and so did everyone else, so the only possble explanation for your response is that it was
>pedantry.

Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

[Peter B]

"Doesnotcompute" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I'd hope, that by trying to tackle situations such as the one I highlighted, it will make people
> think twice. Certainly if we were all able to do it, it would make it much less likely to happen.

It would be nice to think so but I have my doubts. I confronted someone a couple of weeks ago in a
none aggressive, hopefully pleasant manner, to enlighten them and think I totally failed to get my
message across. On other occasions where peoples actions have raised my adrenaline I've been less
polite and it had more to do with my anger than a genuine attempt at education.

I now try to rise above it and not let others spoil my ride, let them be the miserable stressed-out
*******, not me

Pete