No such thing as road tax!

Mitsubishi defends use of “road tax” in new TV ad campaign

Mitsubishi defends use of “road tax” in new TV ad campaign

“Road tax is a thing of the past,” says Mitsubishi in its new TV ad, which first aired last night. Well, yes, that’s accurate. But the use of the phrase in the TV ad isn’t meant to mean “road tax” is dead but that there’s a vehicle that doesn’t have to pay it. Interestingly, Mitsubishi […]


Gov.uk is now a little bit more accurate

Gov.uk is now a little bit more accurate

Chapeau to those piloting Gov.uk: they fixed a couple of little niggles after being told about them. Under ‘driving and transport’, there was a stray inclusion of ‘road tax’ (in brackets, but, still, best for the Government’s leading edge website to be accurate in all ways). And there was also an odd little phrase under […]


“Cyclists don’t pay for roads!” 1890-style

“Cyclists don’t pay for roads!” 1890-style

Thanks to some research I did for iPayRoadTax.com on the history of the long-gone Road Fund I discovered the cycling back-story of a number of key officials in the world of early motoring. This led to the creation of Roads Were Not Built For Cars, a soon-to-be-published history book on cycling’s critical contribution to both […]


A numbers doctor writes…and, politely, gets it wrong on car tax being a “fee to use roads”

A numbers doctor writes…and, politely, gets it wrong on car tax being a “fee to use roads”

Roger Harrabin of the BBC wrote an excellent piece on the non-existence of ‘road tax’ (it was also a news segment on Radio 4’s Today programme). Naturally, this was a lightning rod for those who feel the BBC is biased and green: “The BBC hates motorists and loves cyclists,” wrote David Vance of the BiasedBBC […]


Gastropub owner jokes he’ll ram cyclists at 60mph as they don’t pay for roads

Gastropub owner jokes he’ll ram cyclists at 60mph as they don’t pay for roads

The Bathurst Arms is an ivy-clad pub hotel in the sleepy Cotswolds. The restaurant is to die for. If you make it that far, that is. If you’re a cyclist the landlord of the The Bathurst Arms wants to see you dead. Or at least he did, until others pointed out that writing death threats […]


Comedy gold: “The car have priority over you because we pay road tax”

Comedy gold: “The car have priority over you because we pay road tax”

Motorists say the stupidest things. Well, some of them do, and so do their passengers. Who could ever forget the Mancunian ‘no pay, no say’ conversation? But for sheer comedy gold it would be hard to beat this exchange, which happened in Brixton at the weekend. It’s remarkably polite, from both sides. And erudite from […]


Survey claims that motorists want cyclists to wear helmets and pay to use roads

Survey claims that motorists want cyclists to wear helmets and pay to use roads

A survey from research agency Consumer Intelligence claims that motorists want cyclists to pay ‘road tax’. By not realising how roads are paid for the company is failing to live up to the second part of its name. Roads are paid by general and local taxation. The belief that roads are paid for by ‘road […]


“I knocked a cyclist off his bike. I have right of way, he doesn’t even pay road tax”

“I knocked a cyclist off his bike. I have right of way, he doesn’t even pay road tax”

You have to be a special kind of dumb to post that kind of comment to Twitter, but, sadly, the UK driving test doesn’t examine emotional intelligence and this young woman is speeding around Norfolk with these sort of sick, mistaken thoughts rattling around her head. How could anybody be so callous? Why is it […]


Law firm drums up biz with entitlement syndrome car tax disc holders

Law firm drums up biz with entitlement syndrome car tax disc holders

Vantage Law, a “young, eager, professional and enthusiastic” firm of personal injury solicitors in Liverpool, is promoting itself on the company Facebook page by promising tax disc holders for those who ‘like’ the posting. The tax disc holders have been available on eBay and Amazon for some years. 2618 have ‘liked’ the image posted by […]


Why do people hate cyclists?

Why do people hate cyclists?

One of the reasons, of course, is because cyclists are deemed to be “free-riders”, and don’t pay their fair-share for use of the road. This erroneous belief is easily batted out of the park but it’s mentioned time and time again in newspaper letter pages, newspaper columns and on radio phone-in shows. The BBC is […]


Wannabe UK citizens are told ‘road tax’ exists

Wannabe UK citizens are told ‘road tax’ exists

‘Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship’ is the official test book, published by The Stationery Office, and written by the Home Office Life in the UK Advisory Group, the group which sets the citizenship test, one of the requirements for anyone seeking Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK or naturalisation as […]


Sunday Times columnist calls for booze taxation to be spent on bigger pubs

Sunday Times columnist calls for booze taxation to be spent on bigger pubs

How can a motoring journalist get this far into a career without knowing how roads are paid for? Why does the Sunday Times give him money for writing articles with such factually incorrect information? At least Clarkson is a parody and often quite funny (Rutherford’s Swampy ‘joke’ is too weak for even the cheapest Christmas […]


TV quiz show host surprised at comeback after Wiggo-dissing “cyclists don’t pay road tax” rant

TV quiz show host surprised at comeback after Wiggo-dissing “cyclists don’t pay road tax” rant

TV quiz show presenter Nick Knowles can dish it out, but he can’t take it. On Twitter he took potshots at cyclists – we all wear Lycra, apparently, we all run red lights and we don’t pay road tax – and was surprised when Twitter users replied, robustly. He’s now blocking Twitter users who point […]


Why aren’t cyclists required to sit tests before using the public highway?

Why aren’t cyclists required to sit tests before using the public highway?

It’s good to know that this site is getting its message across to those who believe in the existence of long-dead ‘road tax’. Cyclists tend to know that roads are paid for by general and local taxation; sadly, some motorists believe their graduated vehicle excise duty coughs up for provision and maintenance of the carriageway. […]


What do motorists really mean when they say “cyclists should pay road tax”?

What do motorists really mean when they say “cyclists should pay road tax”?

Mark Cavendish was victim of some road rage yesterday, while out on a training ride in Essex with Russell Hampton. Although the episode was mentioned on Cav’s Twitter account the story was billed as an “Exclusive” in The Sun and was then picked up by Yahoo/Eurosport. Naturally, the @cyclehatred lovers started piling in, accusing cyclists […]


For letters pages: free ‘who pays for roads?’ text

For letters pages: free ‘who pays for roads?’ text

To some, ‘road tax’ is a stick to hit cyclists with. Sometimes the metaphorical stick is wielded on the road, but mostly it’s waved about on online forums and the letters pages of local and national newspapers. Should you wish to reply to those who bang on about motorists paying ‘road tax’, while cyclists don’t […]


Who should pay for cycle infrastructure?

Who should pay for cycle infrastructure?

No-brainer answer, really. Taxpayers should pay, and the money should come from the consolidated fund, i.e. the national coffers, as administered by the Treasury. This is how roads are paid for. All roads – including motorways – are paid for by all taxpayers. Many motorists believe there’s such a thing as ‘road tax’ and that […]


Polite admonishment after a “punishment pass” leads to truck driver shout: “Road tax!”

Polite admonishment after a “punishment pass” leads to truck driver shout: “Road tax!”

Bike-cam wearing cyclist in ‘cycle lane’ on an A-road gets buzzed by a truck – the all-too typical “punishment pass” – and asks, politely, for a bit more consideration and space next time. Reply from the Standard Scaffolding truck driver? “Road tax!” That’s short for “you don’t don’t pay road tax, cyclists shouldn’t be on […]


When a libertarian cites Sweden you know there’s something fishy going on

When a libertarian cites Sweden you know there’s something fishy going on

The Insitute of Economic Affair’s Head of Transport is at it again, and his libertarian views on why the roads we currently own should be sold off to private bidders for £150bn is all over the mainstream media, thanks to a flurry of ‘road tax’ stories. Dr Richard Wellings, a climate change skeptic, thinks cyclists […]


Think-tank’s Head of Transport says cyclists are “low-value”, don’t pay for roads and “delay traffic”

Think-tank’s Head of Transport says cyclists are “low-value”, don’t pay for roads and “delay traffic”

Let me introduce you to Richard Wellings. He has a PhD in transport and environmental policy. Dr Wellings works for the libertarian think-tank the Institute of Economic Affairs. He’s the IEA’s Deputy Editorial Director, and Head of Transport, too. He was educated at Oxford and the London School of Economics. In short, he’s bright. Which […]


Why the hate?

Why the hate?

Yesterday footballer John Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 for racist comments he made on the pitch. Another footballer with racist views is John Thompson: he’s not in John Terry’s league. Er, he’s in the Liverpool CMS league. Thompson plays for AFC Kirkby. He has made hateful remarks on Twitter about Jews, […]


Bad news for cyclists as Government backtracks on definition of VED as an environmental duty

Bad news for cyclists as Government backtracks on definition of VED as an environmental duty

The Treasury has published its definition of environmental taxes, hoping to resurrect the tag of being the “greenest Government ever.” According to a press release, any tax is “environmental” if it is: “explicitly linked to the Government’s environmental objectives; the primary objective of the tax is to encourage environmentally positive behaviour change; and the tax […]


Peugeot scraps promotional references to ‘road tax’; Fiat refuses to do likewise

Peugeot scraps promotional references to ‘road tax’; Fiat refuses to do likewise

iPayRoadTax.com reader Leon Rushworth scored a coup of behalf of cyclists when he refused to take ‘no’ for an answer following a complaint to car company Peugeot, which had been using the words ‘road tax’ in a promotional campaign. Peugeot has now expunged reference to the tax abolished in 1937 thanks to Rushworth explaining that […]


When will drivers start paying the full costs of motoring?

When will drivers start paying the full costs of motoring?

With more and more cars becoming less polluting, the Government can see that the revenue generated from Vehicle Excise Duty is set to decrease year by year. Car tax will no doubt be restructured to account for this but there’s also a very strong argument that motorists should pay to use the roads they damage. […]