The "I Pay Road Tax" campaign started by UK bike advocate and journalist Carlton Reid has snowballed, and he's now signed a licensing deal with clothing company Foska.com.
We revealed last week that Reid was planning to sell jerseys and arm warmers featuring a modified tax disc in a bid to end the common misconception that cyclists don't pay 'road tax' and therefore don't have a right to be on the roads.
His plans provoked such a reaction that he has now signed a deal with Foska to produce several iPayRoadTax.com jerseys, including women's versions, as well as water bottles and arm-warmers.
These products won't be ready before Christmas, so in the meantime he's bringing out a line of T-shirts, badges, mugs, TimBuk2 courier bags, Sigg bottles and other items that will soon be available from the store at ipayroadtax.com.
Reid told BikeRadar: "There's been a steady stream of interest in the website and lots of emails from cyclists wanting to place jersey orders. T-shirts and other merchandise will be available this week.
"Jerseys, arm-warmers and other cycle-specific stuff will be [ready in] January – but available for pre-order on Foska.com at the end of this week. Print-on-demand badges were the first product available and are already selling, in packs of five, so folks want the message to get out there."
In the UK, it is regularly claimed that because cyclists don't pay 'road tax' they shouldn't be allowed on the roads. In fact, there's no such thing as 'road tax'. Motorists do have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty, but the proceeds of this tax go into the general taxation pot and are not used specifically to maintain the road network.
In addition to this, most cyclists also own cars, and they pay the same amount of Vehicle Excise Duty as other drivers despite contributing less to the wear and tear of roads.
Reid said he wanted to make it clear that although the campaign was aimed at ending the misconception about 'road tax', he was not suggesting that cyclists who don't own cars have fewer rights than those who do.
