Capital punishment for diesel drivers?

Air pollution is a enormous problem for the UK.

So large a dilemma has it turn into that earlier this year the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the government for missing its air pollution targets.

In a bid to tackle the difficulty, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, is organizing to make central London an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). That would imply that diesel drivers who venture into the capital could discover themselves having to stump up an further fee on prime of the congestion charge.

2020 vision

Although there are calls for the changes to come into force sooner, the strategy is to implement the ULEZ by 2020. And exactly where London leads, other major towns and cities across the UK could properly adhere to.

This would generate districts in which all but the cleanest of engines would be penalised. Diesel automobiles that didn’t meet the necessary Euro 6 standard – which comes into effect from January 2015 – would have to pay the charge.

Poor news if you drive a diesel, and a real kick in the particulates if you truly bought a diesel on the back of it being portrayed as the much more eco-friendly selection.

Though diesels do generate fewer CO2 emissions than petrol engines, the greater levels of particulates they spew out, especially nitrogen oxide, make them a higher well being risk.

This was some thing the Labour government failed to acknowledge when it overhauled car excise duty (VED) to offer less costly road tax on diesels, which means people had been horribly misinformed and bought into the myth of the eco-friendly diesel engine.

Has Boris got your back?

It will be of small solace to diesel owners that Boris Johnson is sympathetic to their plight. The Mayor of London stated: “I really feel sorry for them [diesel drivers]. It is a massive failure of government policy. Millions of people were told that they were doing a decent thing by acquiring a diesel car.

“You have got to be reasonable and fair to men and women who are purchasing cars now. And they will be quite aggrieved if they are told they are going to face an additional charge to go by way of the centre of London. And you also want to take account of exactly where the business is.”

Discomfort in the gas

Unsurprisingly, the announcement that diesel drivers will sooner or later have to spend to drive in particular places has not gone down effectively with motorists.

A survey of a lot more than 2,000 individuals conducted by auto supermarket, Motorpoint, located 3-quarters (75%) of motorists wouldn’t be prepared to spend more in taxes to assist neighborhood authorities meet European clean air targets.

Kevin Pratt, insurance professional at MoneySuperMarket mentioned: “Motoring charges are high sufficient as it is, so drivers will not welcome any additional expenditures, especially if they have bought a diesel vehicle in the previous due to its supposed eco-friendliness.

“There are lots of methods to cut the expense of motoring although, not least buying around for your auto insurance coverage and adjusting your driving style to save on fuel, and the alterations in legislation will not take effect for a number of years yet so there is plenty of time to think about changing your car.”

What do you make of the London ULEZ proposals? A good idea for cleaner air or just yet another stealth tax? Let us know…

Capital punishment for diesel drivers?