4 x 4s hit by Richmond Council with higher parking charges

Throbbe

Ah, best comedy thread in ages.

No-one needs a 4x4, but why shouldn't they have one? How many of the people slating them drive around in basic 1 litre econoboxes (perfectly capable of travelling at the 70mph speed limit)? I'm guessing not many. Why does anyone need a 2 litre engine? Or air conditioning? Or alloy wheels? How do Mercedes sell any cars when other models are cheaper?

Lets be honest, cars are a lifestyle choice. You might not agree with someone's choice, but that's no big deal. I personally wouldn't have a 4x4 if you paid me*, but then again most people think I'm mad for throwing money at a 20 year old 'classic'. Show me someone who claims there car choice is entirely practical and I'll show you a liar.



* OK, I'll have an Integrale or an Audi Ur-Quattro if you'll pay for the servicing. :rolleyes:

Murphy_The_Cat

The thread title is a bit misleading.

It's not ONLY 4x4 drivers who are doing to be further screwed, it's any motorist that the halfwits at Richmond Council choose to penalise with punitive charges based on emissions.

I feel sure that some of the 'holier than thou' people who exist on this thread would get an almighty shock if they discovered what CO2 banding their 'nice economical little car' actually sat in.

But that's not as much fun as knocking owners/drivers of big SUV's is it ?

MTC

Gorgeous_George

My view is that large cars (possibly 4x4s ) are different to normal cars and there ought to be a different driving test, just like lorry drivers, bus drivers and motorcyclists have to. This should also apply to caravanners.

ALL cars parked on public highway should require a permit. It's the Queen's Highway for driving on - not parking on. Whether the permit should be paid for is another matter. Each house could, for example, be given one permit free with the council tax payment.



GG

Murphy_The_Cat

Gorgeous_George wrote:

ALL cars parked on public highway should require a permit. It's the Queen's Highway for driving on - not parking on. Whether the permit should be paid for is another matter. Each house could, for example, be given one permit free with the council tax payment.



GG

They already do - it's called a Road Tax Disc.

it's a hilarious piece of legislation that takes money off the drivers of powered road vehicles and then fritters the money away elsewhere.

MTC

Gorgeous_George

I heard that large screen TVs are to be subjected to a higher TV Licence and homes with more than one TV need to pay for each one to have its own licence.

Only joking.



GG

Gorgeous_George

Murphy_The_Cat wrote:

They already do - it's called a Road Tax Disc.

it's a hilarious piece of legislation that takes money off the drivers of powered road vehicles and then fritters the money away elsewhere.

MTC

The road fund licence is not a parking permit IMHO.

It is not an hilarious piece of legislation - yet. May never be.



GG

Murphy_The_Cat

Gorgeous_George wrote:

The road fund licence is not a parking permit IMHO.

It is not an hilarious piece of legislation - yet. May never be.



GG

I meant that the Road Tax is a hilarious piece of legislation.

MTC

p.s. !!!!!! should the general population have to pay a chuffing parking permit - good grief, its the universal answer to everything by this government - tax'em until their pips squeek.

prudryden

Murphy_The_Cat wrote:

The thread title is a bit misleading.

It's not ONLY 4x4 drivers who are doing to be further screwed, it's any motorist that the halfwits at Richmond Council choose to penalise with punitive charges based on emissions.

I feel sure that some of the 'kolier than thou' people who exist on this thread would get an almighty shock if they discovered what CO2 banding their 'nice economical little car' actually sat in.

But that's not as much fun as knocking owners/drivers of big SUV's is it ?

MTC

FACT: Richmond councilors have received a lot of publicity.
FACT: They need it - party not doing well.
FACT: Pollution is a world problem - National government's job, not just Richmond's job.
QUESTION: If Richmond is so interested in world problems - how many councilors have visited Ethiopia, Sudan, Iraq, Pallistine, Afganistan, Bangladesh etc etc. How much food have they sent? If people eat too much in Richmond, will they be penalized?
FACT: The pollution factor of the total 4x4's in Richmond would be a mote on the earth's surface.
QUESTION: If charging extra for 4x4's makes any difference to the world's emission levels or the 2% Uk contributes- then why don't the National Governments just ban them - tell the car makers to stop making them.

Before you ask - No, I don't own a 4x4 and yes I fine them annoying when I am behind them - but then, I feel the same way about the 10' white van.

Oh well - now to do something constructive for the day. What have you all done today?

4Chickens

I am a so called 4x4 driver, although I rarely used 4 wheel drive, so I think it is fairer to say that I drive a big car. I pay road tax, insurance and mot just like every other law abiding citizen. It is my car of choice because it is comfortable to drive and I can get all my tools and horse and chicken poop down to my allotment. I travel approx 7500 miles per year, this is not very much at all therefore I am not single handedly killing the planet. I used to have a Saab 9000 saloon car that cost me more to run thant my Mitsubishi Shogun.
Also we big car drivers can be quite helpful to other motorists. In the summer we had a massive storm in the village that I work in and it flooded. Now I got through the massive puddle in the road and stopped and warned all the other drivers coming the other way that they would not be able to get through and they should turn around and find another route. I spent half an hour doing this until the police turned up to block the road and whilst they were blocking off the road I towed to cars out of the middle of the puddle and gave one family a lift to the next village where they lived. So us 4x4 drivers a not complete ignorant gits.

There I have said my bit and I feel alot better

Dan29

prudryden wrote:

FACT: The pollution factor of the total 4x4's in Richmond would be a mote on the earth's surface.
QUESTION: If charging extra for 4x4's makes any difference to the world's emission levels or the 2% Uk contributes- then why don't the National Governments just ban them - tell the car makers to stop making them.

The higher parking charges aren't just for four-wheel-drive vehicles though. When I lived in Richmond I had a car that would definitely have been affected by this (if I hadn't had off-street parking). It had two-wheel-drive, was much smaller than any SUV and was more polluting than many SUVs.