MWAHAHA!!

[Byte]

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/art...229152,00.html

Another reason to hate politicians

[Bundesautobahn]

This is nothing compared to the total amount of money politicians have to pay.

[Byte]

Politicians have to PAY something???

[Janus]

I saw a documentary on the Queen and they talked about the ball she hosts each year for all the diplomats in London.

They say that there are over 1000 ambassadors and other 10,000 "diplomats".

That is ALOT of money if they are refusing to pay the congestion charge, as a majority of the embassies are in Hyde Park, Chelsea, Knightbridge and Belgravia (the most expensing areas).

[Blind_Io]

Someone please explain to us Americans what a "congestion charge fine" is? What do you do? Park your S-class over 3 lanes of highway?

[Peter3hg]

Everytime you enter into a certain zone in london you have to pay £5. It is automatically billed to you so there are no toll booths or anything. Its supposed to relieve congestion but doesn't really work. They're thinking about trying it in other big cities like Manchester or Liverpool.

[GraemeH]

One of these "our real plans to reduce congestion in a realistic beneficial way didn't work, so let's just mug people instead and call it a victory for the environment or something" plans.

[Blind_Io]

Ahhh, gotcha.

Thanks

[ESPNSTI]

Yes European governments are really inventive in finding new ways to take more money from people.

[Bundesautobahn]

Originally Posted by ESPNSTI

Yes European governments are really inventive in finding new ways to take more money from people.

I couldn't agree more.

[watto]

£5 That's ridiculous!!! For just driving in a city?

Stupid Livingstone.

[Janus]

Originally Posted by watto

£5 That's ridiculous!!! For just driving in a city?

Stupid Livingstone.

Exactly. It is only in effect in during the day, and whilst you only have to pay it once a day it is still pretty crappy because you pay 5 pounds to drive in and out of the city all day and you also pay 5 pounds to drive down to the shops to get some milk.

And it has been so incredibly expensive to set up, with cameras, enforcement, methods to pay etc, that they want to expand it out to other areas of London, like Chelsea and Knightsbridge, in order to pay off the initial investment.

[Peter3hg]

The only good reason to buy a hybrid is that they are exempt. So is a vehicle capable of carrying 8 or more passengers (i.e one more seat than the biggest MPV's)

[zenkidori]

why not just ring cities with parking garages and make downtown areas strictly public transport or walk?

[tianluo]

Originally Posted by watto

£5 That's ridiculous!!! For just driving in a city?

Stupid Livingstone.

Its £8 already ~ their was a price rise July last year. Their going to rise the price for SUVs and high CO2 emission vehicles.

[bone]

Originally Posted by zenkidori

why not just ring cities with parking garages and make downtown areas strictly public transport or walk?

yep, i've been wondering the same thing

no way i would spend an hour each day going to work using public transport
but i have no problem with driving my car for 50 mins to the border of the city, and hopping on a bus or metro there for the last 5 mins

[Byte]

Originally Posted by tianluo

Its £8 already ~ their was a price rise July last year. Their going to rise the price for SUVs and high CO2 emission vehicles.

Can somone puuleeeze explain me WTF is wrong about SUV's?! Put a Cayenne next to an old ladies Opel (Vauxhall) Astra from the early 80s and check the emissions...what's their bloddy point?

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by Byte

Can somone puuleeeze explain me WTF is wrong about SUV's?! Put a Cayenne next to an old ladies Opel (Vauxhall) Astra from the early 80s and check the emissions...what's their bloddy point?

There isn't one, discriminating against one body style of car vs. the others is the dumbest thing ever. Hey, from now on anybody that eats pepperoni pizzas gets taxed 30 bucks. It's ok if you order a sausage pizza however, but no pepperonis!

Old cars that aren't properly maintained are a bigger problem than SUVs. What defines a car with high CO2 emissions, besides most SUVs? Does it include old cars that have been determined through an MOT?

[thedguy]

Do your politicians understand that people are in the city for a reason, like perhaps because they have to work to make the money they want to take from you for going to work?

Next up, they will charge £20's to enter a school zone (which will be overly large) between 6am and 10am.

Obviously if they actually cared about the environment or just wanted to alleviate traffic, they'd encourage companies to move out of big cities and to have more of their employee's telecommute.

[Peter3hg]

Originally Posted by Byte

Can somone puuleeeze explain me WTF is wrong about SUV's?! Put a Cayenne next to an old ladies Opel (Vauxhall) Astra from the early 80s and check the emissions...what's their bloddy point?

To pass your MOT your emmisions have to be within a certain range although I'm sure older cars will still polute a hell of a lot more than "gas-guzzlers"