I read with great interest James Styring’s On Yer Bike column Oxford Mail (February 8) entitled “We cyclists have more right to the road than drivers.”

The well-written piece gave a brief but very interesting comparison of both forms of transport, his claim being that as the bicycle predated the motor car this gives the former invention some sort of preference over the latter.

He claims the myth that the road fund licence pays for roads is little more than that, a myth. In fact the road fund licence was first introduced for just that reason, the laying of new roads and the maintenance of existing ones.

British drivers pay £47bn in excise duty every year, when only £19bn is spent annually on the pothole-riddled roads of our country, the same roads enjoyed, if that is the right expression, by Britain’s cyclists, who contribute nothing.

If we follow his argument to its logical conclusion, Italy has a justifiable claim to many of the roads in Britain, through the Roman occupation.

He argues that taxing a bicycle to use the highway would be prohibitive, the cost of collection outweighing the revenue collected. However, there is a simple way around this: combine a road fund licence for cycles with a compulsory insurance. After all, who do I claim from if a cyclist collides with my car and causes damage?

This could also embrace a compulsory yearly MOT on cycles. That way those who flout the law regularly by riding without lights would be forced to have them fitted, permanently and in good working condition.

It’s appreciated that a rapidly increasing minority of cyclists in Oxford view lights of any description as an anathema, certainly the red one at the top of traffic light poles.

But as motor vehicles are quite rightly subject to stringent safety checks, including lights every 12 months, so should cycles, which could have their own number plate displaying their own unique number, and a valid road fund licence.

That way, when one of them, in the enveloping darkness of a winter evening, and cunningly disguised as Johnny Cash, shoots a red light we law-abiding drivers can take their number and report them.

If I have the misfortune to run over a cyclist, I am held accountable, my registration number being clearly visible. My vehicle is then subjected to a complete mechanical check by the police, and close scrutiny of my documentation.

In the event the accident is caused by the cyclist, who refuses to stay at the scene of the accident, the only right I have is citizen’s arrest, which is a grey legal area and can leave me open to a charge of assault.

If Mr Styring wishes to share the road with the automobile, maybe he and his fellow cyclists would have no objection to contributing to the roads upkeep.

I wish him much happy cycling on the roads we drivers pay for.

Ken Roper, Morton Ave, Kidlington