Owners of polluting cars to face £20+ daily charge to drive in London

Former_MSE_Faye

From October some will be forced to pay a £10 surcharge in addition to the £11.50 Congestion Charge...

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'Owners of polluting cars to face £20+ daily charge to drive in London'

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molerat

What a stupid checking system. As they will impose the charge simply by ANPR against your registration number why can you not check if you will be subject to the charge by the same method.

PasturesNew

It's daft. People were told diesel's cheaper; people were told to buy diesel. The poorer will own older cars that are more likely to be diesel if they followed that advice 10 years ago and are still clinging onto that car.

Meanwhile, the rich will swan in and won't care how much it costs them. They could afford to change their car, but money is of no worry/concern to them as they make choices they want, not because of money.

The poor have to suck it up - can't change the car, but need to make that journey ... and can't afford the charge.

It's just another form of modern gentrification... keep the poor and their older cars away from the town, which will reduce traffic - and nobody can complain as nobody's interested in what the poor man's problems are. Targets met, bonuses all round.

Car_54

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's daft. People were told diesel's cheaper; people were told to buy diesel. The poorer will own older cars that are more likely to be diesel if they followed that advice 10 years ago and are still clinging onto that car.

Meanwhile, the rich will swan in and won't care how much it costs them. They could afford to change their car, but money is of no worry/concern to them as they make choices they want, not because of money.

The poor have to suck it up - can't change the car, but need to make that journey ... and can't afford the charge.

It's just another form of modern gentrification... keep the poor and their older cars away from the town, which will reduce traffic - and nobody can complain as nobody's interested in what the poor man's problems are. Targets met, bonuses all round.

How many "poor" people commute into central London by car, where they would already pay £11.50 congestion charge and probably £30+ to park every day?

Very few, I'd suggest.

Most of those affected will be driving old/polluting cars through choice, not necessity.

jobdone1

This is a tax grab. You tree huggers are destroying the economy by banging on about clean air. Take yourself to China check out the difference

redux

jobdone1 wrote: »

This is a tax grab. You tree huggers are destroying the economy by banging on about clean air. Take yourself to China check out the difference

Where sometimes in some cities you can't see more than 200 metres because of the smog

And quite topical that you mention it, as this happened a day or two ago

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2072335/china-names-and-shames-cities-failing-tackle-smog

phillw

jobdone1 wrote: »

This is a tax grab. You tree huggers are destroying the economy by banging on about clean air. Take yourself to China check out the difference

If it doesn't dissuade anyone then it's a tax grab, if it does then it's discriminating against the poor.

China's air quality is terrible & their economy is slowing down. I don't know what your point is, but I don't think we should emulate china.

Pincher

I used to cycle everywhere.

A FORD Transit came out from a side road, knocked my bike sideways. If my left leg was in the down position, instead of up, I may not have a left leg any more.

A car pulled in front of me, braked hard to turn left.
I either run into him, or swerve right, into cars coming up at 40 miles per hour, on the North Circular.

My project leader flipped over at a road junction, and lost his memory for about six months, despite wearing a helmet.

These days, I drive a car. If I wanted to ride a bike, I go to the gym.

Otherwise, I would encourage people going into London on a bike. :eek:

bob_a_builder

What a stupid checking system. As they will impose the charge simply by ANPR against your registration number why can you not check if you will be subject to the charge by the same method.

By the same token

How come they can check if these diesel cars are polluting just from looking up their number via ANPR ?
But if I drive my non polluting(?) PHEV zero rated for CCcharge into London , they can't/wont detect that by ANPR and will still fine me unless I pre-register the reg no

Seems they want to have their cake and eat it

redux

If they really mean it they should extend the zone, both in size and timespan, and actually ban the vehicles they don't like, including taxis buses and coaches, instead of charging them.

Also, there should not be any exemptions for the people who live there.

As things are, some of the people there are smugly causing a lot more pollution, because they are there all the time, than the people they want to shift the blame to and charge, who only visit occasionally.

Both this London Mayor and his predecessor have also suggested scrappage schemes for diesels. The Boris version was £1000 or £2000 to scrap your car over 12 months old. The generosity of this could be tested by seeing if he would like it to happen to him

Nitrogen dioxide and other pollutant levels have been decreasing in most parts of the country by about 2.5% to 4% a year.

But not in London.

Let London sort its own problems out, including sanctions on its own car users (who have hitherto been exempt from the congestion charge) without national taxpayer help, and without complacently pushing too much of the blame on visitors.

Pincher

Remember Los Angeles? They have really left no stone unturned.
They converted their container sea ports, so the ships PLUG IN to on shore electricity, so they don't emit fumes whilst in port.

Remember catalytic converters, and then particulate filters?
California forced it on manufacturers, pushing up car prices.

Eventually, they will understand that you can't allow every Tom !!!! or Harry to have a car. Car ownership requires proof of parking. So, if you live in an apartment, without allocated parking, you will have to rent a space, and provide proof when applying for VED.

Drastic times, drastic measures.