Road Pricing...

[ArtistsRifles]

I hope this is OK here - if not I'm sure Jack or Joris will take the appropriate actions :-)

 

I guess most here have vehicles that are exempt from road tax and I assume the FHBVC would ensure they are equally exempt from the new road pricing scheme the thieves and robbers in Westminster want to bring in. However those vehicles not exempt and those we use in our daily business will have to pay for this new form of taxation. An recent study into the proposals turned up the following:

 

The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver.

 

A non working Mum who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one month.

 

On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked. Somebody will know where you are at all times. They will also know how fast you have been going, so even if you accidentally creep over a speed limit you can expect an NIP with your monthly bill.

 

If you care about our freedoms and stopping the constant bashing of the Car/Van/Bike User, please sign the petition on No 10's new website.

 

There's an online petition here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/

 

No idea what good if any it will do - but I filled it in..........

[TooTallMike]

Please also read the following on the LEZ and go onto the TFL website to register your opinion. Just because you may not live in London does not mean this won't apply to you as the London scheme will be used as a model for similar things in other cities across the UK. I wrote this to alert the local 'donkey' owners to something they thought wouldn't have anything to do with them:

 

>> Do you own a private vehicle weighing over 3.5 tonnes? (e.g. Horse Box)

 

Are you based near or within the M25?

 

If so, THIS WILL AFFECT YOU :

 

Proposed London Low Emissions Zone (LEZ)

 

Quoted from TfL (Transport for London) website

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/low-emission-zone'>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/low-emission-zone'>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/low-emission-zone :

 

“The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) would aim to encourage operators to reduce their emissions by either replacing or modifying their older diesel-engined vehicles that do not meet the proposed emission standards. The operators not complying with the proposed standards would have to pay a substantial daily charge to drive within the zone. In order to maximise improvements in air quality and health benefits, it is proposed that the LEZ would cover all of Greater London and operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

 

Which vehicles would be affected by the LEZ?

 

The LEZ would define emission standards with which vehicles would need to comply

- The LEZ would define emission standards that certain categories of vehicle would have to comply with in order to travel in London without charge. The standards would be based on Euro standards. These are emission standards that vehicles must be manufactured to by a certain date…“

 

The proposal as it stands is generic and allows no distinction between vehicles being used commercially for ‘Hire and Reward’, and those being used privately ( eg. horse boxes).

 

The proposal is that the LEZ will cover ALL roads within the GLA administrative boundary. Any non-compliant vehicle used on the road will be subject to a daily charge of between £100 and £200. This will be enforced by fixed and mobile road cameras linked to the DVLA records.

 

The LEZ as proposed applies to all diesel-engined vehicles weighing more than 3500kg, which are subject to ‘Plating and Testing’ regulations (ie. annual MoT-type test), regardless of their use. Vehicles can be exempted if they are brought up to current emissions standards by the installation of emissions-reducing equipment such as catalytic converters, particle filters etc.

 

The principle of reducing pollution through restricting the use of heavily polluting vehicles is (in my opinion) a good idea. However, the proposals only cover what the legislators are focusing on, ie. delivery lorries and commercial buses and coaches, without considering the small private minority who will also be affected. Privately-used large vehicles are unlikely to represent a major contribution to London pollution due to the infrequency of their use.

 

My personal suggestion is that the LEZ should apply to vehicles based on their taxation classes. These are existing and widely understood classes dividing vehicles into categories based on their use. I would suggest that any vehicle not taxed for Hire and Reward use should be exempted. These are generally vehicles taxed as “Private HGV” and “Historic”.

 

What we need to do NOW is to make TfL aware of the strength of our numbers. This can be done in a couple of ways:

 

1. write to the public consultation at the address below politely giving your point of view.

2. fill in the on-line questionnaire at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/low-emission-zone again politely giving your point of view.

 

Please visit the website and become fully informed before you make contact. Please be polite and please make it clear that you are talking about NON-COMMERCIAL VEHICLES being used PRIVATELY, and most importantly that their use is INFREQUENT (please give details of annual mileage).

 

This public consultation is a legal obligation on the part of TfL so that we the public can voice our opinions. Please let the legislators know about our argument and hopefully they can be persuaded to accommodate us.

 

Questionnaires and comments must be received no later than 24 April 2006

 

If you PERSONALLY do not act now, you forfeit your right to complain later.

 

TfL address:

 

London Low Emission Zone

Transport for London

12th Floor

42-50 Victoria St.

London

SW1H 0TL

 

Email: LEZ@tfl.gov.uk (Subject line must be “Strategy Revisions”)

Website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/low-emission-zone

 

Author:

Mike Gillman

Email: tootallmike@hotmail.com

Tel.: 07747 772838

 

[andrewroberts.1953]

Hi

I have been involved with the kit that makes this work (sic). It does not work in tunnels, were the road in in a cutting, near power lines, close to large buildings ETC ETC!

In fact it's miricle that it works at all. I suspect we get it working for about 50% of the time! :?

Don't expect this to be in use any time soon. The cost for the billing system alone is huge :-o.

But sign the patition it all helps.

I did ask about what happens to 6 volt vehicles, no one had any idea. How about 24 volt vehicles that are not lorries, no one had any idea about that! Vehicles that don't have a windscreen (required to fit the antenna for the GPS part of the system), no one had thought about that!

So As you can see, it's the normal mess :-o :evil: :eek:

[ArtistsRifles]

Thats interesting!!!

 

What happens with vehicles such as Ford with the quick-clear windscreens? GPS signals don't work through it - would these transmitters?

 

I suspect they wouldn't work on most of our vehicles either - in the cab of a Stalwart it's - for me at least - an electronic free zone; mobile doesn't work, neither does the GPS receiver for the sat-nav.

[ArtistsRifles]

Mike - just took a look at the LEZ website - after digging through all the other languages I finally found the English leaflet and questionnaire (mainly my fault for not reading the page properly). In the leaflet it states:

 

It is proposed that a small number of vehicle types would be exempt from the scheme. These include agricultural vehicles, military vehicles, historic vehicles not used for hire or reward, non-road going vehicles which are allowed to drive on the highway (for example excavators) and certain types of mobile crane. These vehicles typically use engines certified to different standards than road-going engines.

Some of these vehicles are proposed to be exempt due to their unsuitability for retrofitting pollution abatement equipment, conversion to an alternative fuel, or engine replacement.

 

Unless I'm reading it wrong - this seems to cover the issues raised??????

 

(Incidentally - I thought military vehicles in service were exempt from taxes and any other form of levy as they are deemed to be the property of the Crown??)

[TooTallMike]

Artistsrifles,

 

While it doesn't apply to pre-1972 MVs due to their taxation class (Historic), anything newer (eg. MKs, AWDs, DROPS' etc.) will be taxed as Private HGV and will therefore have to comply. Also sadly, our group have 2 modern low loader transporters which we use privately as tank/Halftrack transporters, and several old buses and fire engines which will have to comply with the legislation.

 

An interesting thing to note is that any exempted vehicle entering London is required to have pre-registered with TFL, who admit in their paperwork that they cannot get Swansea to tie their vehicle database in with the planned ANPR camera network.

 

There is also serious talk of this scheme being extended to smaller vehicles at a later date so Jimmies, Weapons Carriers etc. would need to be registered too.

 

Following on from your comment about in-service MVs being exempt, we can also find no reference to serving Fire Brigade vehicles.

 

I submitted this to the forum because I believe people should be aware of impending legislation which may affect them in ways they cannot forsee. In the context of our hobby I believe that the detail of a vehicle's 'not being used for hire & reward' covers any potential problems that may affect us and similarly affected groups, eg. horse box owners.

 

- Mike

 

[ArtistsRifles]

No arguments from me Mike. Thanks for bringing it to notice - must admit, it's somethig I was vaguely aware of - but had given little consideration too - needless to say that's changed!!

Maybe there is a case here for submissions to get the relevant groups/associations to campaign for a rolling date - say 25 years as an arbitrary figure - to qualify for the "Historic" classification??? No idea, though, how to handle the issue of support vehicles like the low-loaders you use. Again something that I think might benefit from being discussed by the appropriate clubs and associations (MVT, IMPS etc.)???

 

Fire Brigade vehicles are, I think, owned by the Fire Service and not, as such, by the crown so still pay tax etc albeit at a reduced rate - I am open to correction here though as this is not something I can say I have definite knowledge of. They are exempt from MOT though.

 

Or maybe there's a simpler but just as good way - getting rid of Ken Livingstone to make like easier for every one :evil: :evil:

[TooTallMike]

Agreed that would solve the problems once and for all!

 

The Conservatives did say they'd introduce a rolling 25-year zero-rate road tax for 'historic' vehicles, but I doubt that's going to be at the forefront of any election campaign!

 

BFHVC is on the case of the LEZ and there are many many people giving their views already.

 

I find the whole situation regarding 'historic' vehicles to be particularly irritating because DVLA, VOSA, TFL and others all use different criteria in their classifications. This leads to much confusion when the vehicle in question is unusual and of course it plays into our hands because half the time they can't answer our 'innocent' questions (such as "what constitutes a 'laden' vehicle?")... :evil: