More tax on my car

MarkyMarkD

And then they chase you with fast police cars or motorbikes - proper policing rather than speed camera nonsense.

dazco

lidlest wrote:

Rubbish site that misleads by it's use of terminology. Ok so it doesn't TRAP heat, but it does delay it's release into space, it does cause surface and air temperatures to rise. It says that on the site you posted.

There is NO argument in the scientific community that global warming is occuring... it is.

Rubbish site? says you?

Global warming may be happening, maybe not. Are you an expert? Are you worth listening to?

If it is happening, it could be happening naturally.

Just out of interest please could you tell me how much the average temperature has gone up over the last 100 years. Please

nej

I'm not at all sold on global warming. The last ice age ended without the advent of the plane, the car and the power station. The earth cools and warms. Get used to it.

As for road charging.... well the boxes wouldn't cost anything like £200 each. The issue is subscriptions. Would it work through the mobile phone network, which has the coverage? If so, who pays the line rental and GPRS costs. Or would it work over private radio, which is technically very tricky for the amount of vehicles we're talking about?

But - if motorways are charged at £1/mile, and B-roads at 25p/mile - what is everyone going to use? All that'll happen is it'll shift the traaffic onto roads less capable to deal with it, causing worse congestion. Those who can afford £1/mile will swan along the now empty motorway.

And taxing 2nd cars as someone suggested? Well, how is that going to help? I need to get to work, and so does my wife!

We live about a 10 second walk away from 4 bus routes. My wife can get there in 10 mins in the car, or half an hour on two buses. I can get to work in 25 mins in the car or an hour and a half on 3 buses, or two trains and one bus, plus a 15 minute walk. It's only 6 miles away! Neither is a suitable alternative.

People are not going to give up their cars because the alternatives are rubbish. This is just a means of getting more money from us.

mpython

mrbadexample wrote:

It's Automatic Number Plate Recognition (I think!). You go past a camera, it checks your registration and "pings" if you have no tax, insurance, MOT etc.

Then they pull you over.

Ah, thanks, I do know about it, just didn't recognise the acronym.

London use number plate cameras to register entry & exit to the congestion charge zone, and I've seen the average speed cameras in Northampton & on motorways (which both actually reduce vehicle speed as opposed to gatsos that cause slow down/ speed up driving). But neither of these systems are linked to the MOT or Insurance databases. (If other people didn't know about these databases, you'll find you can now buy car tax on-line and DVLA check these databses before you can buy your tax.)

From what I understand about the 2 solutions, the smartcard/gps locator in your car is likely to be cheaper to run & will cover the entire road network, whereas the cameras could only cover the areas they are located/ cost too much to place on every stretch of road.

As far as I know, only Liverpool Police have the ANPR to date?

eryn_kathleen

I do think global warming is a problem, and I do think we all have a personal responsibility to change our habits. Driving less is absolutely crucial to the future of this country.

However, my husband and I work in different towns. He's a chemist and I'm an archaeologist, so we're not as transferable as other people might be. We've chosen to live in an area where one of us (me) can get to work via public transport, and that means that he has a fairly crappy commute via car. There's no alternative to this, as the area he works in is rural and there are no public transport links. He did car share for awhile until his car sharer moved away.

Also, his parents live in Cornwall; we live in Edinburgh. The cheapest way to get there is flying. The next cheapest is driving. If we were to take the train (which I would prefer) it would take us 12 hours and cost at least an additional £100 which we frankly haven't got.

I would love to give up our car, but the only way I could support additional taxes on car ownership is if ALL of the money went directly to funding cheaper public transportation.

mrbadexample

mpython wrote:

As far as I know, only Liverpool Police have the ANPR to date?

Ooh, no....they're all over the place. On motorway bridges, mobile vehicles etc. You'd be surprised how many times you've been through them! It's not just police either - VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) have mobile ANPR cameras too. :shhh:

lidlest

dazco wrote:

Rubbish site? says you?

Global warming may be happening, maybe not. Are you an expert? Are you worth listening to?

If it is happening, it could be happening naturally.

Just out of interest please could you tell me how much the average temperature has gone up over the last 100 years. Please

An expert? No More educated than most about this? Possibly, I am a trained meterologist and a geography teacher.

Go and look into climatology journals, you will find NO research that says it's not happening since about 1998. It's not happening naturally, the average global temperatures are at a high never seen in history before. When we have had natural warming periods they have not been like this.
http://www.ecoinfo.org/env_ind/region/climate/images/globaltemp_e.gif
Minute changes cause large reactions when you are talking about a global temperature change.

Wig

mpython wrote:

& what's your alternative proposal to reduce congestion, emissions, accidents & injuries?

How about a rationing scheme instead of a charging scheme? Or higher fuel tax? (yes I know we're already taxed more than practically everyome else).

The alternative is really simple and free to implement, can be done overnight, you increase fuel tax.

OP,

Don't believe everything that come through your email box. Where's the evidence that there will be a subscription fee (which is how I read your post). Yes the unit will cost too much, yes the cost of travelling will go up. No, this has nothing to do with speeding fines.

I agree everyone should just refuse to buy the gadgets and have an en masse public rejection and civil disobediance (by not buying and using the gadgets). The result will be they will have to scrap the idea, they can't prosecute everyone it would just be impossible.

The alternative would be they implement higher fuel duty something we the public can't avoid and something that is simple to implement.

Wig

nej wrote:

And taxing 2nd cars as someone suggested? Well, how is that going to help? I need to get to work, and so does my wife! .

2nd cars are generally not necessary as your wifes example illustrates perfectly, taxing 2nd cars heavily would have the desired effect of making it financially impractical for your wife not to walk to the bus stop and use the buses (or ride a bike). That's how it will help.

plus a 15 minute walk.

Heaven forbid!

It's only 6 miles

So ride a bike.

dazco

lidlest wrote:

An expert? No More educated than most about this? Possibly, I am a trained meterologist and a geography teacher.

Go and look into climatology journals, you will find NO research that says it's not happening since about 1998. It's not happening naturally, the average global temperatures are at a high never seen in history before. When we have had natural warming periods they have not been like this.
http://www.ecoinfo.org/env_ind/region/climate/images/globaltemp_e.gif
Minute changes cause large reactions when you are talking about a global temperature change.

So, since 1880 the average temperature has risen a massive 0.6 oC.

During 1998-2005 the temperature DROPPED a tiny fraction.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/09/do0907.xml

As a Geography teacher could you tell us a little about The Mini Ice Age or the Medieval Climate Optimum.