So says a Sale "MEN" reader in yesterday's Postbag.
(It's why I love these towny locals - especially the readers' letters pages
It all started when "Bah Humbug" opined to the paper that
Quote:
Cyclists should pay road tax as well and help contribute towards providing cycle routes and lanes and went on to say that he feels threatened by the growing numbers who ride on pavements in his Manchester 'burb. His point was that if they had these lanes - which he argues they should help pay for if as it's for their use mostly .. then they would not need to cycle on the pavements as they would have their own well maintained piece of tarmac to
speed on!
Humbug also wrote that in his opinion speed cameras just make money, make criminals out of people and do nothing towards making roads actually safer either.
Oooh Humbug - you
devil you!
Bang on cue ... the reader from Sale and Angry from Manchester spend all Christmas banging out replies to Humbug.
Angry of Manchester who spluttering out gastic acid wrote:
Cycle lanes are used by the disabled wheelchair users because the footpaths are so dangerous
We know that..
"cyclists" (to use term loosely
) on the pavements. I still have the scar from being pushed into that trench dug by gas "workers" by one of these louts.
Ahh... but no...
Angry is not saying the disabled are forced to use
cycle lanes because cyclists are on the pavements
Same old woolly logic from scoffing too many stodgy lentils.
Angry of Manchester wrote:
Would you prefer cycles to travel on footpaths?
That's if you drivers did not park your cars and people carriers on the pavements making it dangerous for wheelchair users.
These vehicles cause all the damage to the pavements and the roads. Nobody else does. You do the damage .. you pay
Yep .. the logic of these guys
As a matter of fact .. you might find pavement blocks need replacing every so often as like our carpets - they become a bit "threadbare" after a while and become cracked over time in normal
foot use. Have driven in Manchester area fairly frequently and have family down there.. they have not seen any wheelcahir users in cycle lanes. Few cars parked up on pavements and when they are .. the area is by the road and just recently the council is converting these "tarmacced areas between road and blocked pavement into real bays per my two sisters who cite the A6 and A575 as examples of this.
Meanwhile
Sale reader wrote:
Bah Humbug rightly states that too little is done to maintain our roads.
However, he is wrong to say cyclists do not pay tax. John Caudwell (founder of Phones4U), Adam Hart Davis )freelance photographer, and John Snow (face of Channel 4 News) are all road cyclists. I am sure they would be offended at the suggestion they do no pay tax.
Well.. 40% of their earnings at threshold of the higher tax band upswards.. I think they still have plenty left. Plus an accountant to make sure they pay enough tax but not too much.. same as me really
And same as me... they probably are equally annoyed at this government squandering that hard earned cash on micky mouse projects, and wars caused by playing lapdog to some foreign idiot whilst paring the budget to essentials like police and NHS to the bone.. which means we lose police officers and the junior medics we should be hanging on to as they are tomorrow's consultants and researchers.
False economy? You bet!
I digress.. sigh..
Sale MEN Reader wrote:
Humbug is saying that because cyclists do not display road tax discs, they are not entitled to safe roads He is entitled to his opinion....
He did not say that ... I summed up the letter I read above.
Trouble with these cycling folk.. they don't read what it says.. only how their minds wish to twist it
Now we get
to the best bit of his letter
Sale reader wrote:
Please remember that other vehicles do far more damage and their owners do not pay any road tax
[b] Electrically propelled vehicles are exempt. Just think how much damage a laden 6 tonne milk float does to the road.
Some cars are classed as "vintage" and although required to display a road tax disc - they are provided free of charge. These cars wear out the roads and damage the environment.
Look.... my "harem of graceful gleaming raving beauties" only go out to display venues where people can drool and sigh in euphoria over these visions of great beauty. They are valuable and thus not the sort of car I would subject to every day wear and tear. They are
ladies after all and like all ladies..
if anything "not quite
quite They are all well serviced and probably just as clean as a result - as their more modern "descendants". I will agree that big chrome bumper bars are not very pedestrian friendly.. but they represent an era and a feat of engineering of their day.
Besides - you tried to get the parts these days..
Nightmare Sale MEN Reader wrote:
There are other classes of vehicle which are exempt and which cause far more damage to the roads than a cycle
Tractors and diggers .. but these are necessary anyway.
Besides.. bicycle/and gear manufacture has an environmental cost and a lot of air miles as well in some cases
Sale MEN reader wrote:
In fact if the cyclist paid in proportion for his contribution to the wear and tear of our roads.. the admin cost would exceed this amount.
Singly. perhaps not. But collectively .. economies of scale would apply
If everyone gave up cars and chose bicycles ..then we would all have to pay just the same and Sale reader and Angry would end up paying costs which they did not do prior to "cylclotopia"
We get to the next
gem Sale MEN reader wrote:
Humbug complains that the recent budget will be spent on yet more cycle lanes.
Cycle lanes are the idea of car owners to keep cycles off the road
Really?
From what I see .. narrow the carriageway, slap on a bit of green paint .. hey presto - you have a cycle lane which no-one can actually ride along and some very confused drivers.
So whilst I take issue at the above dumb statement - I will agree with what
Sale MEN Reader next wrote:
In the majority of cases - the highway planners should be prosecuted under the Trades Descriptions Act. These lanes are merely painted lines on the road with poor quality Tarmac over the potholes and placed on the poorest and least lit bit of road which makes cycling more dangerous and should be removed.
Chap goes off on one over speed cameras here. Long post.. but am typing up the letters and making comments as I go along. Tis a veritable essay
Sale MEN Reader wrote:
Humbug goes on to say that speed cameras are making criminals out of ordinary people.
If our roads are so bad - as they are in most cases.. then it's criminal to speed on these. In particular, the anti-social road noise created by speeding motorists on poorly maintained roads in damaging to our mental health
I'd say there's more noise from going over a speed bump slowly.. but most value the paintwork on their cars. Why they get OTT upset over an itsy bitsy stone chip which be sorted with just a bit of patience, T-Cut, polish and TLC.
Most speed cams are on the nice stretches and nowhere near a "dangerous road full of potholes" anyway
In any case - it is lip service to road safety when the obvious of maintaining and engineering roads is not sorted out.
Quote:
I agree with Humbug's sentiment that only in "well off" areas are the roads better maintained.
It is also only in these affluent areas that the DfT is threatened with Court Action for not maintaining the roads and creating sleepless nights for the occupants of mansions
"Wild Moggie Cat Mansion" is in a nice secluded rural setting
But you should be grateful to folk like us in these "mansions" for at least insisting some roads are looked after
Given the prices of property in Sale....not doing too badly yourself mate! Nice area of the big 'burb in reality
Sale MEN reader wrote:
If Bah Humbug really wants better roads, then I suggest he shows more respect for stakeholders and int return they will support him.
Maybe he is due a visit from the spirits of vulnerable cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians" or the "ignored by the DfT"
Hmmm! Love the pecking order there. The pedesrtian is the most vulnerable - and more so from pavement nuisance cyclists who ignore red lights at pelicans and overtake folk like me stopped at zebra crossings
Perhaps the Sale cyclist needs to contact BikeRight for a Bikeability course so that he is
less vulnerable
You negotiate with all the other road users and it's a two way process.
But it's either the road or the pavement. NOT both!
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