I hope riders return (From The Oxford Times)
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I hope riders return
8:00am Thursday 14th June 2012 in Letters
Sir – With respect to Nigel Clarke’s letter (Time to tax cyclists, June 7) it’s difficult to know where to start, since his proposal is based on a series of false assumptions.
First, there is no such thing as ‘road tax’ that taxes ‘road users’ — there is Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) based on emissions.
Most cyclists own a car and so pay VED and, in any case, road maintenance is paid for by general taxation.
Second, the Halfords Tour Series which closed St Giles is a professional race, with the main event in the evening so spectators didn’t need to take any time off work and the riders were working (very hard, actually). It was a fun event and I hope it returns next year.
Ed Pentz, Oxford
