On 05/10/2015 04:18, Bret Cahill wrote:

http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co....umber_plates_/

Do it on a voluntary basis, kind of like those ID tags used by employees in a lot of industries so the public knows the unknown guy is accountable. Maybe 0.25% of the public bothers to pull out a smart device and check. Has anyone heard of any crimes committed by someone with a fake ID? It could be happening and just not be getting reported.

Some businesses require their reps to drive but it's mostly because vehicles have tags. As it is now if a rep wants to cycle he has to park his bicycle several blocks away and then, if asked, mumble something like "the last job was around the corner and it was easier to just walk."

This response is not risk free on short trips but it isn't a worry on longer trips. No one is going to believe you cycled 40 miles, changed into dress clothes under a bridge, did the job, changed back into Lycra and the cycled back home.

One purely academic ethical question:

Is was wrong to claim mileage when you're cycling instead of driving? Consider wear and tear on the bicycle, high carb diet, etc.

There is a school of thought which accepts both of those as factors.

The diet one is decidedly dodgy, though. Every worker expends energy.
It's part of being a worker and doing work, for which normal pay/salary
is the consideration. If the cost of food for a cyclist doing official
travel was valid (I say it isn't), manual workers who do very heavy work
would have a much better claim on "expenses" just for doing their normal
job.

The wear and tear argument is much more of a sound basis for the payment
of expenses, subject to a fixed limit (just as applies with motor
vehicles, even if the employee uses a vintage Bentley).