🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <Ztbmk8mjjy24072yn@DCSBORG.CLS.COM>, icedfire@dcsborg.cls.com
(Iced Fire) wrote:

>Aren't we oversimplifying things here a bit?  No, you do not have to pay
>taxes on a bike.  Does that mean this person doesn't pay taxes?  If they
>live in the same general area as you, you can bet they are paying the same
>general taxes as you on everything else under the sun.  This petty thing
>about no tax on a bike is rediculous.

No it isn't ridiculous.  You pay a specific tax on your car (the license
plate), which goes to road creation and upkeep.  That's the whole notion
behind license plates, to make the road users pay for the roads they use. 
Bike owners do not pay this tax but they get to use the roads anyway. 
Property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, etc. that bike owners do pay
aren't dedicated specifically to road creation and upkeep.

>I see bikes as no inconvience on the roads.  I do not ride one, but I
>do share the roads with them, and have no problem doing so.  They are
>usually very good riders and follow traffic well, and do not get in
>the way of motorized vehicles.

Try driving in the UT area during rush hour.  The lanes are narrow and
there are a lot of bicyclists because of all the students at UT.  They do
get in the way around here.  It is a different story out on the open
highway where there is usually a paved shoulder for the bikers to ride on
out of the way of the cars.

>They do not pollute the highways, like some motorized vehicles do that
>look like they bribed someone to do an inspection on their car.  They
>are the environmentally and health-wise correct thing to do,

Please stick to the topic.  Bikes may be environmentally friendly and
healthful, but this has nothing to do with the topic being discussed. 
Someone asserted that bikers have the same rights and responsibilities as
drivers and I have challenged that assertion.  The environmental
friendliness and healthfulness of bikes has nothing to do with this.

                                ++Don Nash

Internet: D.Nash@utexas.edu     The University of Texas System
THEnet:   THENIC::DON           Office of Telcommunication Services