British Road Tax

[Ironside]

the recent survey done by the bbc was of 4 people in the midlands using busy roads

what has failed to be pointed out is the fact with the current proposals fuel duty will be removed bringing our petrol prices inline with the USA

the current propsal is not to penailise the motorist in any way it will if effective actaully bring less into the treasuary as it get people off the roads during peak times to allow traffic to flow

being a rural user of the roads i would object having to pay road tax at the same rate as somene in the heart of england where they have motorways coming out of there earholes while i have to travel on cattle tracks to get from city to city

aint i glad that the government let me off with having to pay my road tax due to the fact i have difficulties getting on 90% of the buses

bring on the new road charging i say

[Nem]

hmmmm

The problem is that something has to be done about greenhouse gases and congestion.

While not being able to speed might be a pain, perhaps the motorway speed limits will be raised when congestion is reduced.  Another advantage should be a reduction in car crime and uninsured drivers.

we could take every car of the road in britain and it wouldnt make a blind bit of difference..the reason why is the chinese explosion in car owners...its exponential in its increase and is seen as the must have...

i would dump the car tommorrow if we had a viable alternative that worked and was safe..we dont

also is car tax not meant to be for the upkeep of the roads so i presume this will be dispensed with...again doubt it

also it seems that the main way to ease congestion is to tax the car and petrol...that would seem to lead to ensuring that wealth determines who drives as opposed to need ...so i dont fancy the methodology

my solution would be to have state owned or non  profit public transport...and not run by quangos either...if that could be made safe , efficient and economically viable i`d go for it...
instead we have 8 different bus companies running the same routes in competition which is neither economic, enviromentally firendly or safe.
we have train track fragmented throughout regions,owned by one company and travelled on by another company who pay royally for it and therefore whos main interest is in charging for it.
no one is interested in the enviroment just a business model of competition and market forces for transport..whch doesnt work
if it keeps up we`ll be sold our own pavement and charged for wearing shoes on it...

right rant over...aahh thats better

Spot on mate!

[Royal Flush]

As tricky an argument to win as your "Big Saloons, 4x4 users should pay more" - WHY?!?

If person A earns 5x more than person B , why should person A pay MORE for something than person B - would you expect person A to pay more for a pint of Lager in a pub than person B? Of course not, so why would you in this?

Karl said so.

[wader leg]

When was the last time any government took any notice of a petition?
Seriously there must be 2 or 3 a week, people delivering reams of paper, thousands of signatures petitioning for different things but it is very naive to think governments would do anything on the strength of public opinion unless it is close to an election.
The only thing that seems to have caused problems to the government in relation to petrol/motorists was when the fuel distribution centres were blocked by disgruntled hauliers/stroppy welsh farmers a couple of years ago and people went into a panic and queued up at their local filling station to top up their already 3/4 full tank "just in case".

[barhell]

When was the last time any government took any notice of a petition?
Seriously there must be 2 or 3 a week, people delivering reams of paper, thousands of signatures petitioning for different things but it is very naive to think governments would do anything on the strength of public opinion unless it is close to an election.
The only thing that seems to have caused problems to the government in relation to petrol/motorists was when the fuel distribution centres were blocked by disgruntled hauliers/stroppy welsh farmers a couple of years ago and people went into a panic and queued up at their local filling station to top up their already 3/4 full tank "just in case".

The other strange thiing about that demo was everyone started driving more sedately on the roads to save fuel it was rather strange to see everyone driving at a steady pace rather than flat out. As a driver for a living the result was less jams on the road which made my life easier.

[AndrewT]

Britain is a densely populated country, particularly here in the London and the South East. Not only that, but the nature of the employment of a large portion of the population requires them to commute to work in the same direction at roughly the same time as everyone else in the morning and go back again at roughly the same time as everyone else in the evening. Obviously this results in chaos.

We need fewer people travelling about. At one time, people using technology and working from home, or using flexitime to alter their hours was seen as the answer, but that hasn't materialised.

The only guaranteed long-term solution to congestion on the roads is fewer people, full stop. London is full. If you're not here at the moment, stay where you are - don't come here. You'll hate it, honestly. There are people everywhere. Wherever you go, people. A lot of them aren't even from here, yet they're complaining about how busy it is, not realising they're part of the problem. 'I can't believe I'm stuck in traffic all morning - it's not like this back in Gloucester'. No? Well sod off and take your Chelsea tractor back there then.

[doubleup]

Rant removed

If Britain is so s**te, why are people queing up to get here?

[Ironside]

you know what people are like doubleup

start a queue and people will join even if they dont know what the queue is for

[doubleup]

you know what people are like doubleup

start a queue and people will join even if they dont know what the queue is for

[Foggy]

Rant removed

If Britain is so s**te, why are people queing up to get here?

Because it is a lot better than the eastern block/ asian countries that they were born in, but quite a few of the brits are migrating to Spain / Portugal / France & the USA. This is to get away from a over taxed, second rate country that was once great, where people cared about their neighbours, had community spirit, where civility and manners where commonplace and there was a sense of pride in being British.

[londonpokergirl]

signed

[Wardonkey]

I have no car, but I do own two bikes, if anyone wants to loan one just ask.

Why shouldn't you pay for the destruction your car causes.

The method and prices can be debated but to be effective the price must be high enough discourage car use.

Try to live a week without using your car, if you live in a town or city it is not that difficult.

[lazaroonie]

Try to live a week without using your car, if you live in a town or city it is not that difficult.

Ah yes, but successive administrations/local governments have destroyed our local town centres with their approval of planning applications for huge hypermarkets/shopping malls in fields miles from the nearest town centre.

when was the last time you saw a new housing development in a town centre ? (and I mean family housing, not 1 person shoeboxes overlooking some manky river ?

And why is it the anti-car lobby always use emotive words like "destructive". The simple fact is that cars amount for less than 6% of the carbon footprint of this country. There are much bigger offenders - the Goverment cannot seriously tax the crap out of the motorist and then leave the airline industry alone. That is of course, if they were seriousl about any of this....

[Wardonkey]

You are right Laz, the way things are organised it makes practical sense for most people to have cars and of course use of aviation fuel should be taxed in proportion as well.

The main problem is use of carbon based fuels, there are other less damaging fuels solutions but the economic and social changes required to make them viable are colossal.

BTW - I don't count myself as part of the 'anti-car lobby' the main reason I don't drive is because I've never been arsed to learn or had a good enough reason to. I'm just trying to point out that it is not impossible to use your car less.

[lazaroonie]

The problem is that it becomes an emotive subject. The last thing people want to hear while stuck in a traffic jam on their way to work is some chauffered goverment minister telling them that they shouldnt be driving anymore.

All these people are guilty of is trying to get to their work. In order to pay tax, to pay the salaries of these politicians. But ultimately they are the ones who get clobbered for it, because they cant do anything about it.

There is a place about 10 miles north of Edinburgh called Dalgety bay. This has become popular with commuters because house prices in the capital have gone thru the roof. This area has become one of the largest housing developments in the country. The only problem is, the two places are seperated by 1 mile of water (the forth). The present bridge is crumbling and talks are underway to build a new one. So far we have heard opinions that the new bridge will give priority to buses, only one lane open for cars, punitive tolls for people who only have one person in their car etc.  How can the people who live in this area feel anything less than let down ? They are being virtually forced to live there thru economic need.

Currently for me to go to work by public transport would take 2.5 hours. For me to go an visit my parents (a 10 minnute drive) would take the best part of 40 minutes (providing the buses turn up on time). Any politician who thinks that they are going to change peoples attitudes to taking the car given figures like this, is living in cloud cuckoo land.