The whole anti-cyclist debate is getting a bit old.
Both sides get too entrenched with their opinions and I admit the cyclists don't do themselves any favours when they get into the militant "all drivers should be limited to 10mph" type bollocks lobbying. Nor does it help when people cycle on pavements etc. Running red lights although admittedly wrong is only likely to result in harm to the cyclist. As for knocking off mirrors etc, maybe it happens in London but I've never seen anything of that sort going off.
The "road tax" point is also incorrect because it's vehicle excise duty, paid on the vehicle itself. As cycles have zero carbon emissions etc there's no applicable duty. However, most cyclists (particularly commuters) have motor vehicles on which they're paying duty. The fact they're taking their cycles to work rather than driving makes no difference to what they pay (despite the fact it's reducing the congestion for everyone else) so it's not fair to claim of most that they're "not paying their way". Like most people on VD, I'm a biker and car driver so I'm paying double despite the fact I can't exactly use both at the same time. 
This "us versus them" mentality does cause me real anxiety hence my (admittedly) sarky post (sorry, nothing personal Timpster). The attitude of a lot of motorists is frankly quite intimidating and has on occasion resulted in deliberately aggressive and dangerous behaviour towards me when I'm minding my own business.
Posted: 02/09/2010 at 16:55
