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Can you fit a ladder in there? Can you fit long items such as plastic pipes? I still see that a very impractical vehicle to ply one's trade. Far better ( maybe even and cheaper) to get a second hand van and a second hand car for private use. Which I reckon it must be what the immense majority of people does, because as I said I have never ever seen a member of the building industry going around in anything other than a van.
I'm sure a very few people might the exception, like your step father, but the problem of high pollution and congestion still remains. You cannot please 100% of all people all the time. Some times some measures have to be taken that will go against a few people. That is the way it has always been and there is little that can be done about it.
Are you joking? Swapping 4x4s for vans is not going to reduce 'high pollution' – there isn't much difference in fuel consumption anyway between the two. And getting on to global warming let it be pointed out that there is absolutely no scientific basis for suggesting that the removal of every single vehicle in Britain would have any effect whatsoever on climate change. (So to suddenly launch a witch hunt against 4x4s on the pretence of saving the planet is just absurd). The crusade against flying too makes all sorts of unproven assumptions.
Aint it expanding from next year?
Where can you look up the bandings of various cars, like if you're thinking of buying a new one for instance?
My friend's car is like 600cc tiny little thing from Japan - he's wondering if his is in bands A or B.
I was talking about the other Blair
Excellent across the board? Peter Tatchell ring a bell? And he was one of Ken's oldest supporters.
It should bother any decent person with a shred of humanity.
The only person who has benefited from Ken's spending on the tube is Bob Kiley. Almost every Londoner cares about transport but the amount of extra money that the tube needs puts it beyond the Mayor imo; projects like Crossrail and the massive investment the tube needs will come from the government - not the Mayor.
Here is a website where you can look up the co2 emission for a particular make of car.
The you need to look here to see what band that makes you.
Haha, Trans Am here I come. God, it will probably take all of my "winnings" to insure and fill that fucker with Petrol!
Meh. 12 litre Buick Riviera? I think so.
The thing is, could these people drive a van instead of a 4x4? Most of them, the answer is YES. As such, they should go buy Transits.
The following shows the bands (a bit down the page) - but your friend should check back to their car tax and see what band they paid then
http://www.ibsleasing.co.uk/page.asp?Page=42
Some of the more 'normal' cars that hit band G.
I agree you can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time, but your solution is to punish the people who can't afford it, meanwhile those who have a 4x4 as a luxury rather than a necessity will go on using them. Just because you don't see a need for someone to own a 4x4 doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of people who do need to use a 4x4 in the city.
If you ask me to choose between that and leaving things as they are just because a very few people might be left worse off, don't blame me for choosing the former.
Incidentally not all 4x4s are in Band G so not all is necessarily lost for your stepfather. At worst he'll have to change vehicles.
Those who opt for a 3.5l V8 high performance engine shouldn't perhaps be too surprised if their car falls into the most polluting category available.
Your solution won't achieve that, as has been said the majority which is who this will need to hit, will just keep paying and driving, the minority who have the thing for work/lifestyle that they have bought second hand and had limited choice will be hard hit.
And as for where I live, no it is not within the Congestion Charge zone. Which many would say is a shame, because if it did that would mean I could drive all over London and get 90% residents' discount if I wanted to do so.
But CC affects me anyway. At the end of the day I work in Chelsea, which will be part of the CC area in less than 3 months.
It is irrelevant in any case, because I would not want to drive to Central London during peak hours if you paid me, and more to the point I would never in a trillion years want to own a 4x4 monster truck. Not unless I moved to a farm in the Highlands that is. So the £25 charge would never affect me.
The pollution, the congestion and the near misses while I'm on my bike by innapropriately large cars that restrict visibility all around affect me deeply. That is why I (and most of the Londoners I know) applaud the congestion charge and welcome this new charge on gas-guzzlers.
Livingstone maintains he "nicked the idea" off Milton Friedman, who coincidently died yesterday.