'How much should petrol cost?' Poll discussion

KierNet

gadgetmind wrote: »

Out of interest, how does the fuel economy of small moped/motorbike compare to that of a small car? Many decades ago, young people with little money got around on two wheels.

Mopeds can easily get around 100mpg. My old car (Fiat Punto, 1.2) could get 40mpg on a good day.

It doesn't really bother me the price of fuel, there are very few people who need to have a car. Just because you need one to get to work isn't a reason, get a job closer to home, leave early and take public transport.

Amazes me people moaning about the price of fuel at work, then I see they've got a 4x4. Have to have a little laugh about it.

We're still as busy at work (petrol station) at £1.30.9 for unleaded and £1.33.9 for diesel as we where when we where £0.99.9 for both. If anything we are busier.

Guess this is a good time to get the car I want as everyone wants to save money on fuel though!

denerobt

Thanks sharrison1, you raise some good points. I am aware of how important business is and the amounts it generates, but also, of how much it costs us . Government procurement contracts to the private sector are huge - we pay for that.

We hear often of all the jobs being created when a Tesco or equivilant store opens. What you don't hear about is that the hours are only part time for the majority and so it is the tax payer that has to subsidise the wages and housing benefits etc.

Would there be a risk in making the extra levy on shares higher for a brief time?

You said "It is a short sighted measure that will generate some income now at the expense of the future economy", then what is the fuel tax if not short sighted? Higher food costs, higher heating oil costs, the price of every goods and services rising to cover transport costs, our haulier industry falling under

You mentioned pensions too, where is our protection still? how come in Denmark they can have a pension system that delivers more per pound in funds than we are allowed here? how come they have protection against unfair fund charges and bung backs and we don't? Maybe this is the expense of our longer term economy. We are always asked to pay, why not stop and look at other avenues before raising taxes again and again.

icklepeach

gadgetmind wrote: »

Most car trips could be done in <20 mins by bicycle, and a large percentage in <20 mins even on foot, yet many people still automatically pick up the car keys as they leave the house. Madness.

ARGH this sort of sweeping statement does my head in :mad:

My hubby cycles to and from work - he does around 200 miles a week. He can do this because he has a supportive employer who provides showers in the work place and doesn't have to leave his office for meetings.
In my previous job I often had to leave the office for meetings and to organise events. This isn't something I could have done on public transport as my work place was very rural (1 bus an hour) so despite living less than 7 miles from my office driving was the only option.
In order to start and finish work at the appropriate time I dropped my daughter off at school on the way to work - car based school run - CRIME OF THE CENTURY, so shoot me for it.

Things have changed now, I have a second child. We are very very busy people, we walk often to places but I can't carry a weekly (or even half weekly) shop home the 2 miles from the nearest supermarket, nor can I get my daughter to orchestra, or can I afford the luxury of taking an extra 30, 40 or 50 minutes on each journey that I use the car for in order to enjoy the luxury of getting soaked through, rained on, blown sideways by the weather or suburnt ( :rotfl: as if!)

Unless you can show some serious evidence (rural, urban, suburban, motorway all included please) for MOST car journeys being short enough for other modes of transport (oh, and please include ways of taking 2 small kids with you all the time too...) then please avoid making sweeping statements.

I think petrol should be around £1 a litre - 160% tax is bonkers! I wouldn't drive more than I do now if it went back to 2009 prices. Oh, and when is the HMRC milage rate going to change to reflect this mammoth price?!

trotter09

Is it my imagination or is there less traffic on the roads than usual? If so, and if this is because petrol has gone up, then let's have even more expensive petrol please.

icklepeach

trotter09 wrote: »

Is it my imagination or is there less traffic on the roads than usual? If so, and if this is because petrol has gone up, then let's have even more expensive petrol please.

Could be the petrol prices - could also be that hundreds of thousands of people have been made redundant as a result of the current economic decline?

DansMum_2

My old 600cc could squeeze 86mpg and cost about £18 to fill up from empty..

My current one costs about £20 to fill up and does about 55mpg. 'Greener' than the car, causes less damage to the roads, gets me to work quicker and I dont pay to park, £60 a year road tax, £120 a year insurance....

However, the old Jalopy does 30mpg costs today £105 to fill up (which is a sixth of its value :eek:) BUT its not practical for me to have just the bike.... Shopping (where do I put it) Snow etc....

I run my own business where I will probably have to put prices up to refelect the petrol prices. On top of the price increase for the increase in VAT this year already.... We were just coming good after 2 really quiet years as well....

I vote £1 litre

denerobt

icklepeach wrote: »

ARGH this sort of sweeping statement does my head in :mad:

Absolutely agree ! I live in a village in Mid Wales. Now, before everyone goes on and says about living closer to towns or city, would you like another few million people coming near you, sending house prices soaring? We have very little in the way of buses. There is no bus service in my village or the surrounding 4 villages near by. I would love to reduce my petrol costs but even if I car share I cannot then find transport to see my patients.

I would be happy to debate this and to be proven wrong by anyone in person - you just get to my door using public transport and make it 9am in the morning. Good luck getting home too.

jamesn77qs

Apart from more than 2000 road deaths a year and a much larger number of serious and life devastating injuries, motoring has a massive cost for the nation and the NHS.

The cost of roads and other infrastructure is immense.
Rail companies have to pay for use of the railways, what better way to charge motorists to use roads than a fuel tax?

gravitytolls

Zyyb wrote: »

The green agenda makes me angry. Higher taxation doesn't stop people from driving, people still have to get to jobs. It's an unprogressive tax hurting the poor more.

And where does the money go?! The bus costs a fortune around Norwich, it's £2.20 for a single to the city. If there were 3 of us, we could get a taxi cheaper!

I agree with the % idea, make it a 50% tax on the price of petrol and put every single penny into transport, dualling carriageways, bus lanes, hi-speed rail links etc

Mmm, and outside Norwich, public transport is equally expensive and inadequate, some villages see a bus once a week, I kid ye not.

If we're pushed out of the cardue to rising costs, we'll still be stiffed by the bus company, as their costs will rise too. Subsidised my arsicle!

gadgetmind

icklepeach wrote: »

ARGH this sort of sweeping statement does my head in :mad:

Why exactly? It's based on the statistics for car trip lengths in the UK.

A quarter of car journeys in the UK are less than two miles. This isn't a sweeping statement, merely a fact. Half of car journeys in the UK are less than five miles. Another fact.

Of course, there will be trips that people need to do that are beyond that which you'd sensibly tackle by bicycle, and for these you use a car. For these trips I also use a car, but LOADS of people use cars for very short journeys where they could easily cycle or walk.