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Chelsea tractors to be charged £25 congestion charge
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5171850.stm
A good move IMO.
This is actually based on CO2 emmisions so a few smaller 4x4s would be exempt, and a few state cars, saloons and high performance vehicles would be included.
I would have preferred all 4x4s to be slapped with the £25 charge- or even better to be banned from city centres altogether. At the end of the day Chelsea will be inside the CC area from next year, which means Chelsea tractor owners will get a 90% discount on the charge. But anyway, it's a step in the right direction.
*waits for the usual right wing tirade about curtailing of "rights"*
The congestion charge for drivers of petrol-guzzling cars could rise to £25 - three times the current charge.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone has said he wants a sliding scale, with lower charges for low-emission vehicles and higher charges for "Chelsea tractors".
He said if his plans got wider backing, discounts could be in place by 2008, and higher charges by 2010.
A good move IMO.
This is actually based on CO2 emmisions so a few smaller 4x4s would be exempt, and a few state cars, saloons and high performance vehicles would be included.
I would have preferred all 4x4s to be slapped with the £25 charge- or even better to be banned from city centres altogether. At the end of the day Chelsea will be inside the CC area from next year, which means Chelsea tractor owners will get a 90% discount on the charge. But anyway, it's a step in the right direction.
*waits for the usual right wing tirade about curtailing of "rights"*
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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Comments
A large majority of taxi's are LPG, it makes sense economically to them because they cover so many miles.
As to this, its bonkers, not only will the majority of them live in the area and therefore not be charged this, but they already get penalised for having them, this isnt the way to do it. Up the road tax for them certainly, make fuel more expensive, but this is bonkers.
Edit : anyway, this is a local issue for local people.
ETA - they don't pay the VAT on their diesel though. What is it anyway - a congestion charge or a pollution charge?
Erm, sorry? That comment makes little sense! Why would you put LPG in a diesel engine? He didn't say that...
Pollution now, I guess. Either way, I agree with this. Far as I am concerned, you should ONLY have a 4x4 SUV whatever, if you have a good reason and need to go off road. There is NO REASON otherwise. It just makes you look a tit.
If you need 7 seats (I rarely se a full SUV) get an MPV. If you don't, get a smaller car. What is the point in having an uneconomical, ugly, top heavy and blatantly unsafe to other road users and pedestriants in ways a car never could be, huge 4x4, when you only ever take it as far off-road as the occasional grass verge?
Plus they cause so much fucking agro parking and hitting peoples cars doing so.
4x4s are private vehicles, and highly polluting, innapropriate and dangerous at that.
I would say however this proposal has flaws. There should be an extra charge for such vehicles. But it should be a separate one from the existing CC. A charge that doesn't give discounts for being a resident, but simply penalises the use of highly polluting, and pointless monster trucks in the busiest city centre in Europe.
Still, a small step on the right direction, and if it doesn't curb the use of 4x4s too much by those who live in CC area at least it Chelsea tractor owners from other areas will be a bit more relunctant to drive into town.
The one that annoys me though is that they recently changed the rules for what counts a a business vehicle. Now loads of small businesses (i.e. plumbers, electricians etc) have huge pickup trucks because they are the only vehicles they are allowed to put through the books and claim against the business that they can still fit their kids in. My step-dad has one. He was going to buy an estate car, until he found out that he wouldn't be allowed to claim it as a business expense. How many self-employed young dads could afford a seperate van and car for different purposes?
Where the person lives, and why they need to be there, is not taken into account. The in-laws live in the middle of nowhere and need the 4x4 to get out of their house in winter, my sister-in-law is largely wheelchair-bound, why should they get clobbered for the cost.
Not everyone needs 4x4s, of course they don't, but why would that smug little cunt care about those that do?
They are part of the public transport network mate. Should we charge CC to buses?
The point is, just about 0% of those who live in Central London need a 4x4.
4x4= car designed for use off road.
London= zero off roads to be found.
Simple as.
As such, taxis are public transport just as buses or trains. It's not to do with what the journeys are for. It's to do with encouraging people to leave their cars at home and using public transport.
That is why CC should only apply to private vehicles.
The fewer cars that enter city centres, the better.
My mistake then, I thought that taxi's were moving to LPG because it was cheaper for them.
Four wheel drive is as much about grip and handling on a normal road as it is off road.
Secondly, you think people who can afford and drive chelsea tractors are gonna be bothered by the £25?
By the way, do the MP's pay the congestion charge?
Does Mr Blair?
Public transport is shit in London, but thankfully it will be sorted out for the Olympics. Also most people who drive into London know how pointless it is to do so, so they take public transport.
And this is not about the people who live in London, it's about commuters. So fi the governemtn wants less congestion they need to improve train services and get them into the 21st century and then people won't have to take the car into London.
BTW taxis in London are in fact part of public transport, without them London would not survive!!
MPs pay the congestion charge. The PM will if he's driving on personal business, if he's travelling in a car on Government buisness the Government pays.
That's good to know.
So, something like this Lexus RX400h hybrid..