Thread.
1/ Irate driver: "Cyclists should get out of my way. They don't pay road tax."
1/ Irate driver: "Cyclists should get out of my way. They don't pay road tax."
2/ I'm going to argue that whilst I understand the roots of this anger, it's baseless and in fact, if anyone's freeloading it's motorists.
3/ This line of thought has been promoted by @CyclingMikey joining a 'to-and-fro' with an angry driver and offering this infographic: 
4/ ...so I thought I'd dig around for my own version of the figures in Mikey's infographic, both for fun & lest they were a bit out of date.
5/ But first, let's touch on anger at freeloaders. We've evolved this to live in groups. For more info, try this: bbc.com/future/story/2…
6/ Where are we? Ok, so we're predisposed to get seriously angry at those who cheat. That's hardwired. Now let's sketch out some sums.
7/ The root of the anger directed at (some) folks on bikes from (some) folks in cars is some shade of: "I pay my way, and you don't"
8/ ...so let's look at some undoubtedly imperfect figures on what motorists pay in taxes and compare that to the economic costs of motoring
9/ I really can't be bothered exhaustively referencing sources* but I am going to take some pleasure in citing The Sun...
*dig for your own
*dig for your own
10/ The Sun (yes, I know) calculated recently that UK motorists between them pay £44 billion every year.
Source: thesun.co.uk/motors/4796133…
Source: thesun.co.uk/motors/4796133…
11/ Coincidentally and very conveniently, the latest number I could find about the number of folks holding UK driving licences is 45 million
12/ So near as dammit every UK driver pays £1,000 every year towards the cost of motoring.
"Are we nearly there yet?" you ask.
A: Not far.
"Are we nearly there yet?" you ask.
A: Not far.
