Cyclists who act like they own the road should pay towards it

[dreamingofsun]

So cyclists get priority on the roads, and are happy to ride two abreast so they hold all the car traffic up. Shouldnt they at least pay towards the upkeep of the road?

If there isn't a pavement then you don't walk on that road

Oh please will you stop with your ranty nonsense, it’s getting ridiculous now. Other people have the right to use the road too. Chill out and cheer up, we’d all be better for it

They already do.

Vehicle excise duty has nothing to do with road maintenance.

Incorrect. Modern cars are less polluting. Not 'not polluting'.

You do realise that not all of the cars you think you should have exclusive use of public highways are fully EV?

Very few people die in cars.

depends what you call a few, it’s not just the dying but the injured. 20,000 injured with life changing injuries.

OP wants cyclists paying more tax than drivers to be on the road but what about the cost of all these motorists crashes, that’s not cheap at a running bill of around £3.5 bn a year

If this was posted 10 or more years ago I suspect more people would agree with OP.

Nice to see most people understand that cycling is not the cause of the problem but the solution to much if the problem.

There is probably still an urban/rural disparity in opinion though.

Trollolololol.

Modern cars are not polluting. Sure.

They put quite a lot of money in county cafes and farm shops. I do hope you never drive just to go for a meal.

Over here people who lost their licenses tend to be ones to bike their commutes. It’s ridiculous. There needs to be a license for cyclists to be able to be considered road legal.

I commute by bicycle and I’ve never been banned from driving.

Takes me 10 minutes to cycle to work. It would be at least 20 minutes by car, sometimes longer

I do, however, agree that some cyclists take the absolute piss. I was nearly knocked over by one in Central London recently as I crossed a pedestrian crossing on the green man. I shouted "red lights apply to you too" and he stuck his finger up at me!

My last visit to Zone 1 left me with the distinct impression that no user group follows the rules there. I was using a zebra crossing on a quiet street in Holland Park and nearly got flattened by a Merc. Saw loads of people running red lights around Kings Cross too; bikes, cars and scooters (they were the worst). Finally the pedestrians just cross whenever they bloody well like.

Somebody has been having too much of the special koolaid.

Our council spent a ton of money of bike lanes to get cyclists safely around two big busy roundabouts,and they still weave in and out of cars, look irritated at traffic lights and cut off traffic.

On a roundabout, once you enter it you theoretically have free passage until your exit. If the scheme you are talking about is what I'm imagining, the cyclists would be forced onto a stop-start detour around the periphery, pausing to give way to traffic (possibly having to push a button and wait) at each exit.

Can you really not see why no one uses these crap layouts?

It often takes them longer to park than it would just to walk. I know someone who walks further from the work car park than he'd have to walk from his house!

Even the EVs aren't doing your lungs much good. Bicycles are no problem though, far less tyre wear because of how lightweight they are compared to a car.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/03/car-tyres-produce-more-particle-pollution-than-exhausts-tests-show

You forgot to add:

many sanctimonious comments from cycling enthusiasts

over generalised claims that car drivers are lazy (despite the fact that for many drivers, they don't have a choice e.g. dropping children at childcare before heading off to work (tricky on a bike) or due to sheer distance of travel

comments from cyclists (after body shaming drivers and berating them for using their cars) pointing out that they also own cars

comments spouting meaningless and unsubstantiated data in support of arguments

comments ridiculing or undermining anyone's claim to have been injured by a cyclist

comments making light of cyclists who do not follow the rules e.g. running red lights.
(My husband (walking instead of driving) was crossing on a pedestrian crossing green light in Manchester city centre yesterday and only avoided being hit by the cyclist riding at speed through the red light by me pulling him back. The cyclist swerved but carried on .... no apology.... no remorse)

comments from cyclists claiming that all cycle lanes are unusable (after clearly having cycled along every single one across the entirety of the UK every week just to check that there have been no upgrades)

comments from cyclists raging at motorists who dare to complain about being held up on the road but then justify their choice not to use cycle lanes as they need to keep up their speed/pedestrians slow them down/don't want to have to stop and start at breaks in the lanes etc.

There are bad drivers and bad cyclists and it appears that the animosity is a two way street here. Cyclists on MN are as intolerant of car drivers as drivers are of cyclists.

Onefinemess can’t work out if you are taking the piss. Hope so !

Any woman is in the demographic for sexual assault. A man can easily knock you off your bike. It is less risky than walking by yourself at night though.

Very few people die in cars

Eh? Thousands die in car accidents every year - they are not all pedestrians/cyclists by any means - many are the people in the car(s) involved.

(My husband (walking instead of driving) was crossing on a pedestrian crossing green light in Manchester city centre yesterday and only avoided being hit by the cyclist riding at speed through the red light by me pulling him back. The cyclist swerved but carried on .... no apology.... no remorse

Of course drivers never ever ever go through a red light!

The point is - a cyclist is very unlikely to injure you. Drivers injure people across the UK every day. It doesn't even make the news unless it's a really bad incident. It will make the news if a cyclist does - because it is so rare.

I've just come back to this thread and it's taken a weird turn.
@onefinemess are you a parody poster? You want a modal shift to get people driving MORE? And you think no one should be allowed to walk or cycle anywhere that doesn't have a pavement?
There's more too, but it's too much to post right now.

If you are for real, then no wonder I feel unsafe when doing my cycle commute to work.

I rest my case about comments undermining people's claims to being injured by a cyclist.
I can assure you that the speed that cyclist was riding yesterday, if he had hit my husband, then both the cyclist and my husband would have sustained some form of injury.
I didn't state that car drivers don't jump red lights (that is something you have used to deflect the argument) but the fact that a car clearly can cause catastrophic injuries if it hits a pedestrian does not excuse the appalling road sense of those cyclists who don't follow the rules. There is always a, "but....but...but what about when car drivers do...." in an effort to downplay the fact that yes, bad cyclists do exist (just as there are bad motor vehicle drivers).
Of course, if yesterday's cyclist ever causes a collision with a car due to his need to jump red lights, then it will no doubt be the fault of the motorist who should have paid more attention. 🙄

This entire thread is a wind-up so it's unsurprising it attracts wind-up posters.

Fucks sake OP. I’m not sure somebody riding their 7kg bike is contributing to all the potholes we have on our roads. Not that you seem to realise what money goes towards the upkeep of our roads anyway. Read the Highway Code and educate yourself rather than wasting time getting worked up over something you can’t control.

I cycle commute to my office as much as I can. 14 miles each way. I do it because its good for my mental and physical health. I'm keeping traffic off infrastructure that already is at bursting point. I'm saving approx 4.89kg of CO2 for each trip.

I have been spat at, had bottles and other trash thrown at me, been intentionally knocked off, cut up time without number and sworn at on a weekly basis. Why ? Because on a few occasions Drivers have to slow down or wait to get past me. Mere seconds or minutes off their lives. I'm just a Dad and husband who just wants to get to work and get home to see my girls.

We are the most vulnerable of road users and need to be protected and supported.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/cyclist-58-dies-after-collision-27500337

I think some of the reason for the level of vitriol is guilt. Drivers know they shouldn’t be driving we should all be cycling more. It’s a no brainer. Era of the car is coming to an end anyway they are just not sustainable.

Thats so sad that you've been spat at, cut up and had your life endangered by seemingly "normal" people, yet put them in a car and something switches in their brains and makes them like monsters.

The surrounding roads to the Trafford centre was defiantly not built for people or with humans in mind but only people in cars - its atrocious to try and navigate on foot, let along bicycle