What, no road tax?

One complaint submitted to advertising standards drone:

"This advert suggests that the package includes 'Road Tax'. Road tax doesn't exist. It's car tax, a tax on cars and other vehicles, not a tax on roads or a fee to use them. Motorists do not pay directly for the roads. Roads are paid for via general and local taxation. In 1926, Winston Churchill started the process to abolish road tax. It was finally culled in 1937.
The reason that road tax was abolished is that Winston Churchill believed that it would make motorists believed they were the rulers of the road. He was correct and many drivers do think they are the sole users of the highway because they pay road tax.

I therefore would like to complain that this advert is misleading and in doing so helps to re-enforce this negative attitude that cyclists do not belong on the road as they do not pay road tax.

I believe this advert should be changed to saying inclusive of VED."

Perhaps your complaint would have been better handled by the advertising standards bots.

you also see loads of car ads where they say there is no vat. That's crap also, of course you're paying vat. You're just getting the car cheaper that's all.

Of course most of us don't give a monkeys as long as the car is cheaper, but its interesting to see the headline say "no vat" and they to see the small print see a total u-turn saying that actually vat does apply.

I had a Peugeot flyer with the admag last night suggesting you "just add fuel" and pay no Road Tax. But nobody pays Road Tax anyway.

Update Sat 15 Oct. I contacted Peugeot to say tell them (again). The reply:

"Peugeot customer service drone" wrote:

We are aware that Road Tax is now known as Vehicle Excise Duty. However, we call it Road Tax on our advertising to help keep things simple, as the majority of the public still know it as Road Tax.

We do not mean to appear misleading, and we apologise if we have made the wrong impression.

That sort of shite is like a red rag to a bull...

"Simon E" wrote:

Perhaps Peugeot UK should price their cars in Pounds, Shillings and Pence. I'm sure no-one in Germany looks at a 10 note and describes it as a Deutschmark because it's easy to remember. No-one visits Yugoslavia now but most people know where it is/was.

The vast majority of the public wasn't even born when Road Tax was scrapped and I am sure potential customers understand exactly what VED is. It's only because companies like Peugeot continue to deliberately misname it that anyone still uses the term "Road Tax" to describe it.

Another fellow replied saying it would be passed to their Marketing department (and presumably filed in the bin).