Joggers on the road

Lando Griffin

It’s that time of year again when the seasonal joggers are out. You know the ones struggling along at the first sign of summer, and running on the road. Is the footpath not good enough for these people or why choose to jog on the road? Do they think by jogging on a footpath supplied by the council that the will be inconvenienced by walkers. I came across a pair side by side on the road going into my village the other day and a perfect new footpath beside them. I had to slow down as I could not pass with oncoming traffic and would they move? No.
Can some enlighten me as to why joggers prefer the road than a footpath?

Cookie_Monster

I'd love to know the answer to that as well.

ThisRegard

Thread in Motors about people two abreast on the road not about Cyclists shocker.

PaudyW

i think they might be a bit touched, they dont really know what their at, neither walking nor running

Mycroft H

Perhaps cos its easy to run on the road rather then the dilapidated footpaths that aren't designed for running on?


Whats the problem with them anyways ? They have as much right as any other road user to be there

ThisRegard

landyman wrote: »

Whats the problem with them anyways ? They have as much right as any other road user to be there

but dey dont pay der road tax !

funkyouup

landyman wrote: »

Perhaps cos its easy to run on the road rather then the dilapidated footpaths that aren't designed for running on?

Ha the footpaths are in better condition than the roads around here so does that mean i can drive on them too:D

Mycroft H

ThisRegard wrote: »

but dey dont pay der road tax !

its MOTOR tax

Henry Ford III

They can't jog on the footpaths due to cyclists using them

ThisRegard

landyman wrote: »

its MOTOR tax

Yes, I know. My post was dripping in sarcasm !

yop

ThisRegard wrote: »

but dey dont pay der road tax !

I think really its time to tax runners and cyclists. I mean none of them obviously have cars or pay insurance or road tax and obviously have no consideration about the motorists they are holding up and causing an obstruction.

Tax their asses of get off the road. Bloody health freaks. Get a car its quicker. :mad:

gbee

landyman wrote: »

They have as much right as any other road user to be there

I think you might find this not quite so. There is a reference in the Rules Of The Road to what pedestrians are expected to do.

Satanta

they mostly prefer the even road surface copaired to the footpath where there are dips every so often for entrances etc. jumping up and down from the footpath in those cases is surprisingly sore on the knees when done repeatedly.

However it is a problem for motorists. They rarely give way expecting the motorist to be aware of them. There was a young lad killed in my town a few years back because he hopped onto the road to avoid someone else on the footpath.

ThisRegard

yop wrote: »

I think really its time to tax runners and cyclists. I mean none of them obviously have cars or pay insurance or road tax and obviously have no consideration about the motorists they are holding up and causing an obstruction.

Tax their asses of get off the road. Bloody health freaks. Get a car its quicker. :mad:

Absolutely, in fact double the amount of tax they pay over the basic motor tax rate as all that puffing and panting is surely contributing to the death of the planet a lot quicker than if they were just walking. Damn polar bear killers.

yop

ThisRegard wrote: »

Absolutely, in fact double the amount of tax they pay over the basic motor tax rate as all that puffing and panting is surely contributing to the death of the planet a lot quicker than if they were just walking. Damn polar bear killers.

Absolutely, we should meet and protest about this. I have signs made up already.

I'm off to town now to the tax office to tax my ass. I'm going to carry the bike on my back too just to give me extra tax.

Them feckers shud pay for Co2 as they use twice as much as the rest of us. Only fair.

ThisRegard

I was going to say I was right behind you but I'm now thinking, there's 3 cars in our family, 2 bikes, 1 baby trike and I do a lot of running. Do I get credit for the motor tax I currently pay or would I really be in the ****ter with the amount of new jogger/cycler tax I will owe ?

What if I promise only to do so on the footpads from now on, will I be exempt ?

yop

ThisRegard wrote: »

I was going to say I was right behind you but I'm now thinking, there's 3 cars in our family, 2 bikes, 1 baby trike and I do a lot of running. Do I get credit for the motor tax I currently pay or would I really be in the ****ter with the amount of new jogger/cycler tax I will owe ?

What if I promise only to do so on the footpads from now on, will I be exempt ?

You can but your feet are going to be in bits with them footpads

Matt Simis

yop wrote: »

I think really its time to tax runners and cyclists. I mean none of them obviously have cars or pay insurance or road tax and obviously have no consideration about the motorists they are holding up and causing an obstruction.

Tax their asses of get off the road. Bloody health freaks. Get a car its quicker. :mad:

I know you are joking, but why do we accept that cars are heavily taxed in this country (proceeds propping up all sorts of things) when some people decide they want to utilise the amenities made for automobiles without the taxation.

Its just so engrained thats its "normal" to ream motorists here when its just as artificial as a cycling tax/running shoe tax/mandatory cycling jacking tax etc. I would have no issue with cyclists (few joggers on the roads near me) if they paid the ticket price. If cars disappeared in the morning we absolutely would have taxation on everything from cycling to walking.

PS: Im actually very courteous and nice to pedestrians and cyclists out on the road

yop

Matt Simis wrote: »

I know you are joking, but why do we accept that cars are heavily taxed in this country (proceeds propping up all sorts of things) when some people decide they want to utilise the amenities made for automobiles without the taxation.

Its just so engrained thats its "normal" to ream motorists here when its just as artificial as a cycling tax/running shoe tax/mandatory cycling jacking tax etc. I would have no issue with cyclists (few joggers on the roads near me) if they paid the ticket price. If cars disappeared in the morning we absolutely would have taxation on everything from cycling to walking.

PS: Im actually very courteous and nice to pedestrians and cyclists out on the road

Fair point but the tax is on the emissions from the engine is it not? ( I cud be wrong on that!), so you can't tax a bike or a runner really in that regard.

If cars disappeared though we would have we would have a country of footpaths and donkey/horses so no need for big roads

Until I took up cycling I had little patience for them, but in fairness to both cyclists they vast majority of them have cop on, but as with fruitcake motorists there are the same fruitcakes on bikes and running the roads.

ThisRegard

Matt Simis wrote: »

when some people decide they want to utilise the amenities made for automobiles without the taxation.

Being a runner/cyclist and car owner are not mutually exclusive. I would hazard a guess that majority own cars and contribute towards the amenities made for automobiles as you say as much as the fat guy around the corner who drives to the shop on the corner.

Matt Simis

yop wrote: »

Fair point but the tax is on the emissions from the engine is it not? ( I cud be wrong on that!), so you can't tax a bike or a runner really in that regard.

Tax was on engine size (CC) for years and CO2 (one of many emissions and not the one to worry about, but thats for another thread) when that became en vogue.
Obviously you cannot tax a bicycle on emissions, but since tax is a man made apparatus for increasing government coffers, tax it on Gears, weight, rubber used... could be any arbitary factoid at all (like CC or emissions on cars here, its weight in NL for instance). Tax is not about logic.

ThisRegard wrote: »

Being a runner/cyclist and car owner are not mutually exclusive. I would hazard a guess that majority own cars and contribute towards the amenities made for automobiles as you say as much as the fat guy around the corner who drives to the shop on the corner.

Well thats a guess, but there are plenty of cyclists that dont own cars. Irrelevant of that, motorists are penalised and taxed in many different manners, ie Insurance and also Duty, VAT and Carbon tax on fuel for the cars. More time cycling is less Fuel Taxation (of the various forms).

There is simply no way to spin that an average cyclist contributes even close to the average motorist in taxation due to the sizable percent that use Public Transport and Bikes over cars and the 120% fuel taxation.

Im not for a second suggesting there is no place for cycling (and jogging) in todays society, just the taxation element is unfairly weighted.

coolbeans

Anyone serious about their running will tell you that concrete paths are significantly harder than tarmacadam roads. This has obvious effects on the knees, joints etc. I do wish peds would walk on the correct side of the road though, for their own safety and my peace of mind. It's so bloody stupid walking with your back to the traffic flow it beggars belief.
@Matt. Cars are generally associated with externalities e.g. pollution, road damage, congestion etc. This is the traditional reason for taxing cars over the likes of bikes i.e. to offset the cost to society at large of these externalities. That hasn't stopped our governments abusing this principle and treating motorists like cash machines which is a shame and an abuse of the taxation system.

Apologies for the pedantic tone.

Cookie_Monster

Matt Simis wrote: »

I know you are joking, but why do we accept that cars are heavily taxed in this country (proceeds propping up all sorts of things) when some people decide they want to utilise the amenities made for automobiles without the taxation.

Its just so engrained thats its "normal" to ream motorists here when its just as artificial as a cycling tax/running shoe tax/mandatory cycling jacking tax etc. I would have no issue with cyclists (few joggers on the roads near me) if they paid the ticket price. If cars disappeared in the morning we absolutely would have taxation on everything from cycling to walking.

The proceeds from taxing cars in all it's guises still wouldn't come anywhere near the costs of providing roads and amenities, maintaining them and all the other requirements to support such infrastructure that needs to be in place just for the vast amount of private cars IMO. You wouldn't need expensive motorways for example if it was just commercial and PT, smaller better maintained roads would easily suffice and less land would be wasted.
Go further into an look at the health issue, lazier less active people, RTA costs and effects, the economic and emissions cost of traffic etc and it looks even more costly to fund all these cars from a societal point of view. PT / cycling etc are reasonably cheap ways for the gov to cut out car costs once enough people use them and should be encouraged and certainly not taxed.
But we are as a society far to dependant on cars to change the system anytime soon... so until transporters of flying cars become the norm we're stuck with what we have

But why stop at taxing all road users, why not have a footpath tax, so no-one can ever leave their house without paying for the privilege?:P

Matt Simis

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

The proceeds from taxing cars in all it's guises still wouldn't come anywhere near the costs of providing roads and amenities, maintaining them and all the other requirements to support such infrastructure that needs to be in place just for the vast amount of private cars IMO.

Hmm, well from considering this I would have to make my stab in the dark on the opposite side. The "amenities" the government provides are largely the roads. A large initial investment with (poor) ongoing maintenance. Petrol stations and fuel are colossally taxed and couldnt possibly be a cost centre. Motorways are increasingly tolled and are not there "for cars" they are there for industry. When I drive my car 70km to work I do it at my expense (and not on motorways). If I took a (non-existent) bus to work I would be costing the government money.

Where is this massive financial burden of assorted amenities you talk of? Traffic lights? Garda Traffic Corp? I dont think its adding up the way you think.

EDIT:
VRT in 2008: EUR1.0 Billion (its peak before recession + C02 Import Rates)
Motor Tax: 1 to 1.5billion (declined due to stupid CO2 taxation).
Fuel and insurance related tax: Many billions no doubt

Cycling Tax in 2008 = 0?

yop

What worries me is the potential of "Brenda" or "Leo (I can't go out of a pint)" reading threads like this and getting ideas