Why aren't disabled cyclists treated the same as disabled motorists?

Doug

Not only are disabled cyclists not generally recognised as such and
are banned from many areas where wheelchair users are allowed but they
are also excluded from many of the benefits enjoyed by disabled
motorists, such as the following.

"If you have difficulty getting around, having your own car can make
all the difference to your independence. Several organisations offer
information and advice about buying and driving a car specially
adapted for a disabled person. These include the Mobility Information
Service, the Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service (MAVIS)
and the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Mobility Centre.

Motability is a charity that helps people to use the higher rate
mobility component of their Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or their
War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement to buy powered wheelchairs,
personal vehicles and cars through a hire purchase scheme.

For cars, Motability covers:

* a new car every three years
* free tyres
* insurance
* road tax
* servicing, maintenance and repairs
* breakdown cover
* window or windscreen replacement.

However, your DLA or Mobility Supplement won't necessarily cover all
the costs: you may also have to pay a deposit, the cost of necessary
adaptations, running costs and so on. Do check exactly what you will
need to pay before committing yourself.

Exemption from VAT and road tax

Disabled people do not have to pay VAT on equipment for daily living,
wheelchairs, personal vehicles or on cars specially adapted to carry a
disabled person in a wheelchair. See VAT Notice 701/7, VAT reliefs for
disabled people for more information. You can get a copy from the HM
Revenue and Customs helpline on 0845 010 9000 (you will need to give
your postcode when you call).

People who receive the higher rate mobility component of Disability
Living Allowance don’t usually have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (road
tax) on their car."

--
Carfree Cities
http://www.carfree.com/
Promoting practical alternatives to car dependence - walking, cycling
and public transport.

Nigel Cliffe

Doug wrote:
> Not only are disabled cyclists not generally recognised as such and
> are banned from many areas where wheelchair users are allowed but they
> are also excluded from many of the benefits enjoyed by disabled
> motorists, such as the following.......

[snip]

> Exemption from VAT and road tax
>
> Disabled people do not have to pay VAT on equipment for daily living,
> wheelchairs, personal vehicles or on cars specially adapted to carry a
> disabled person in a wheelchair. See VAT Notice 701/7, ....

Do your research first ?

Disabled cyclists can get VAT free cycles under the above rules.
I've seen one being sold by Kevin at D-Tek. Price of a trike with a few
modifications to a disabled chap was VAT free, subject to completing various
forms (much like the forms for cars, wheelchairs, etc).




- Nigel


--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Doug

On 11 Jun, 08:25, "Nigel Cliffe" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> Doug wrote:
> > Not only are disabled cyclists not generally recognised as such and
> > are banned from many areas where wheelchair users are allowed but they
> > are also excluded from many of the benefits enjoyed by disabled
> > motorists, such as the following.......
>
> [snip]
>
> > Exemption from VAT and road tax
>
> > Disabled people do not have to pay VAT on equipment for daily living,
> > wheelchairs, personal vehicles or on cars specially adapted to carry a
> > disabled person in a wheelchair. See VAT Notice 701/7, ....
>
> Do your research first ?
>
> Disabled cyclists can get VAT free cycles under the above rules.
> I've seen one being sold by Kevin at D-Tek. Price of a trike with a few
> modifications to a disabled chap was VAT free, subject to completing various
> forms (much like the forms for cars, wheelchairs, etc).
>
What about the other benefits mentioned?

--
Carfree Cities
http://www.carfree.com/
Promoting practical alternatives to car dependence - walking, cycling
and public transport.

Mark T

Doug writtificated

> What about the other benefits mentioned?

I may not be right about this, and you should probably check this out for
yourself, but I think disabled cyclists don't have to pay vehicle excise
duty on their bicycles either.

bornfree

On 11 Jun, 08:25, "Nigel Cliffe" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
> Disabled cyclists can get VAT free cycles under the above rules.

How can I get this?

I am about to buy a new bike. I am not "certified" disabled, but could
get a doctors letter.

Rob Morley

On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:15:21 -0700 (PDT)
bornfree <justyouandme@xemaps.com> wrote:

> On 11 Jun, 08:25, "Nigel Cliffe" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> >
> > Disabled cyclists can get VAT free cycles under the above rules.
>
> How can I get this?
>
> I am about to buy a new bike. I am not "certified" disabled, but could
> get a doctors letter.

ITYF you need to be getting DLA/SDA to qualify, and be buying something
built/modified to cope with your particular disability.

JNugent

Doug wrote:

> Not only are disabled cyclists not generally recognised as such and
> are banned from many areas where wheelchair users are allowed but they
> are also excluded from many of the benefits enjoyed by disabled
> motorists, such as the following.

[snip]

No, you're wrong.

The fact that a particular person owned a bicycle would not prevent them
(if disabled) from being eligible for a car under the Motability scheme
(or whatever it's now called).

So they'd be treated exactly the same as anyone else.

JNugent

Nigel Cliffe wrote:
> Doug wrote:
>> Not only are disabled cyclists not generally recognised as such and
>> are banned from many areas where wheelchair users are allowed but they
>> are also excluded from many of the benefits enjoyed by disabled
>> motorists, such as the following.......
>
> [snip]
>
>> Exemption from VAT and road tax
>>
>> Disabled people do not have to pay VAT on equipment for daily living,
>> wheelchairs, personal vehicles or on cars specially adapted to carry a
>> disabled person in a wheelchair. See VAT Notice 701/7, ....
>
> Do your research first ?
>
> Disabled cyclists can get VAT free cycles under the above rules.
> I've seen one being sold by Kevin at D-Tek. Price of a trike with a few
> modifications to a disabled chap was VAT free, subject to completing various
> forms (much like the forms for cars, wheelchairs, etc).

But why would a *disabled* person want a VAT-free *bicycle* when they
could get a car for almost nothing?

Ekul Namsob

JNugent <JN@NPPTG.com> wrote:

> But why would a *disabled* person want a VAT-free *bicycle* when they
> could get a car for almost nothing?

The last time I checked, the running costs of a bicycle were
significantly less than the running costs of a car.

Cheers,
Luke


--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

JNugent

Ekul Namsob wrote:

> JNugent <JN@NPPTG.com> wrote:

>> But why would a *disabled* person want a VAT-free *bicycle* when they
>> could get a car for almost nothing?

> The last time I checked, the running costs of a bicycle were
> significantly less than the running costs of a car.

Yes, but there's the question of the disabled person being fit enough to
ride a bicycle, which is more physically demanding than sitting at the
wheel of a car. I would expect that the Motability scheme would require
a significant level of disability before free cars were handed out, and
there is obvious scope for tension between the competing requirements
for being classified as "disabled" and for being fit to ride a bike.

Of course, some disabilities may not have much outward sign.

Marc

Doug wrote:
> On 11 Jun, 08:25, "Nigel Cliffe" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>> Doug wrote:
>>> Not only are disabled cyclists not generally recognised as such and
>>> are banned from many areas where wheelchair users are allowed but they
>>> are also excluded from many of the benefits enjoyed by disabled
>>> motorists, such as the following.......
>> [snip]
>>
>>> Exemption from VAT and road tax
>>> Disabled people do not have to pay VAT on equipment for daily living,
>>> wheelchairs, personal vehicles or on cars specially adapted to carry a
>>> disabled person in a wheelchair. See VAT Notice 701/7, ....
>> Do your research first ?
>>
>> Disabled cyclists can get VAT free cycles under the above rules.
>> I've seen one being sold by Kevin at D-Tek. Price of a trike with a few
>> modifications to a disabled chap was VAT free, subject to completing various
>> forms (much like the forms for cars, wheelchairs, etc).
>>
> What about the other benefits mentioned?
>
>
Disabled cyclists don't have to pay road tax ( neither does anyone else)
and they don't haver to pay for "cars specially adapted to carry a
disabled person in a wheelchair"

It looks to me as if they are treated in the same way a disabled car
driver is, they are given a mobility allowance and get to spend it how
they want!

Nigel Cliffe

JNugent wrote:
> Ekul Namsob wrote:
>
>> JNugent <JN@NPPTG.com> wrote:
>
>>> But why would a *disabled* person want a VAT-free *bicycle* when
>>> they could get a car for almost nothing?
>
>> The last time I checked, the running costs of a bicycle were
>> significantly less than the running costs of a car.
>
> Yes, but there's the question of the disabled person being fit enough
> to ride a bicycle, which is more physically demanding than sitting at
> the wheel of a car. I would expect that the Motability scheme would
> require a significant level of disability before free cars were
> handed out, and there is obvious scope for tension between the
> competing requirements for being classified as "disabled" and for
> being fit to ride a bike.

Hmm, so certain that their is a heirarchy where the car is at the top.

Not all people are capable of independently controlling a car regardless of
how many modifications are made to the controls. They might be capable of
independently controlling a cycle.

Wierd though it may seem to some, not everyone wants a car.


It may help if, in some circumstances, you think of a cycle as a wheelchair
which happens to use leg rather than arm muscles to propel it along. A
leg-propelled wheelchair which gives someone the ability to travel
independently for several miles, rather than walk a few yards with severe
difficulty, would appear to be a mobility aid.



- Nigel


--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Terry Duckmanton

JNugent wrote:
> Ekul Namsob wrote:
>
>> JNugent <JN@NPPTG.com> wrote:
>
>>> But why would a *disabled* person want a VAT-free *bicycle* when they
>>> could get a car for almost nothing?
>
>> The last time I checked, the running costs of a bicycle were
>> significantly less than the running costs of a car.
>
> Yes, but there's the question of the disabled person being fit enough to
> ride a bicycle, which is more physically demanding than sitting at the
> wheel of a car. I would expect that the Motability scheme would require
> a significant level of disability before free cars were handed out, and
> there is obvious scope for tension between the competing requirements
> for being classified as "disabled" and for being fit to ride a bike.
>
> Of course, some disabilities may not have much outward sign.

A person with faulty legs would be perfectly capable of using a hand
powered trike. I must admit that someone with a dicky ticker would be
less able and would be better off with a car.

leandr42@googlemail.com

On Jun 11, 5:26*pm, JNugent <J...@NPPTG.com> wrote:
> Ekul Namsob wrote:
> > JNugent <J...@NPPTG.com> wrote:
> >> But why would a *disabled* person want a VAT-free *bicycle* when they
> >> could get a car for almost nothing?
> > The last time I checked, the running costs of a bicycle were
> > significantly less than the running costs of a car.
>
> Yes, but there's the question of the disabled person being fit enough to
> ride a bicycle, which is more physically demanding than sitting at the
> wheel of a car.

Why should it follow that a disabled person is unfit? Later this year
you will see many people with disabilities competing at the
paralympics. I guess most of them are at least as fit as me, and a lot
of them would beat me at their own sports. And many of them will be
disabled to the extent of needing adaptations to ordinary facilities
to let them travel.

Probably quite a lot of disabled people are unfit because of
difficulties in taking exercise. If they can use an adapted bike/
trike, it would bring great health benefits.

Cycling slowly also requires less energy than walking, so the fitness
level to get started isn't that high.

Rob