Page 1 of I have a funny feeling this whole ULEZ thing might be a tad on the unpopular side

Popped into London on Tuesday, unaware that there were 2 protests scheduled for that day, one was organised by the Bangladeshi community protesting against someone over there who by all accounts is a bit of a wrong-un

But alongside that, and taking up a large proportion of Parliament square were the anti-ULEZ bunch, solemnly walking a cardboard coffin down Whitehall while others in hi-viz vests chanted slogans and help up placards. All very well-organised & official

Personally, the ULEZ doesn't affect me, but I do understand the ire that Londoners & locals must be feeling at what amounts to just another tax on the working man. Of course, the flipside to this is the narrow-minded Herberts who've taken it upon themselves to try to make a name for themselves by cutting the ULEZ cameras down, spraying paint on the lenses and generally trying to disable them in any way possible.

A few years ago there was a spate of other idiots putting tyres around speed cameras and setting them alight, chalking another one up for the little guy. But a few days later they were replaced, working perfectly, and all at the expense of the tax payer

And of course, the same can be said for the ULEZ cameras. They'll be replaced, quickly, and at further expense to you and I. So while the idiot is proudly showing off his collection of cameras stacked in his garden shed on TikTok, they're undoubtedly ignorant enough to think they're actually making a difference.



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Writer`s Release

So 90% of cars in London are ULEZ compliant, probably a little more now, as that was a figure from January. Their drivers don't pay a thing.

Admittedly, a cost of living crisis isn't the best time to add an extra financial burden to the ten percent, and maybe expanding Boris Johnson's baby could have waited a little while. The price of second hand cars skyrocketed when COVID shut down the demand for new cars, and that hasn't normalised yet, which doesn't make things any easier.

But it's not like London is short of other options, like public transport, or minicabs (I believe the cool kids call them Ubers these days).

It's not like this was a surprise either. They may tell you that there wasn't enough time to adapt, but what did they think would happen. London has had a Low Emission Zone since 2008, getting progressively stricter over time to deal with diesel emissions.

Sadiq Khan implemented the ULEZ in 2019 in central London, expanded it to the A206 and A406 in 2021, and now almost to the M25. How anyone can be shocked by this, especially given the plan to end new petrol and diesel car sales by 2035, escapes me.

Obviously the £2000 scrappage scheme doesn't go far enough, but given that central government obviously won't help, so that they can have one thing to stick the opposition with, means TfL is stuck.

Of the 10%, there are edge cases which need genuine resolution, especially the older driver with a make do and mend mentality when it comes to long-owned cars, and the poorer workers who live hand to mouth, and can't afford to drop a few thousand to change a car at the drop of a hat. Maybe an 'exempt and help' scheme to keep them mobile until they can be helped to change cars.

Depressingly when it comes to mainstream, and social media, it's clear the issue has been hijacked by the usual suspects with a racist axe to grind.

EDIT: I forgot the most important point, in that for a money making scheme by TfL, this is the dumbest idea ever, in the sense that the aim of the ULEZ is to get everyone driving compliant vehicles, at which point running and maintaining all those ULEZ cameras will be costing them money.

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Jitendar Canth

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"I thought what I`d do was, I`d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."

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This item was edited on Friday, 1st September 2023, 15:17

Quote:
Jitendar Canth says...
"Obviously the £2000 scrappage scheme doesn't go far enough, but given that central government obviously won't help, so that they can have one thing to stick the opposition with, means TfL is stuck"
More than my 20 year old car that passes ULEZ and doesn't require me to pay... is worth!


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That's kinda what surprise me as the vast majority are compliant. I think small van man has more of a gripe.
I'm a little susprised the the likes of Just Stop Oil haven't been bitching that the cut off point is too low.

Snaps

May not affect you YET.... but its coming to town near you Soon!

Making every car ULEZ compliant, or Zero VEL (Tax)  just means, that money isn't in the pot to repair the already critically bad state of the roads...

They can argue its about emission's, but it about filling the coffers in Whitehall, just like the Health Service, has taxed many smokers into submission now they are looking at Taxing Vapes!

As it happens, and I'm bemused as to why I haven't checked before, but my little Skoda estate is compliant anyway, and I daresay there's a lot of people expressing outrage that probably haven't checked either

But I did see something on FB earlier that looked like the usual rage-inducing clickbait, but no, I checked





So that'll be an extra several thousand a day, probably, from unsuspecting families just having a nice day out. But don't worry, the Daily mail has your back

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12471497/how-avoid-ulez-zone-chessington-attraction-travel-park-epsom.html

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Writer`s Release

Quote:
Pete-MK says...
"and I daresay there's a lot of people expressing outrage that probably haven't checked either"
Pretty much everyone, I suspect. It's the vehicle equivalent of "ban this movie I've never seen"


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Doesn't affect me as I'm no longer down there but when this kicked off in that by election I checked ours at the time, 2016 Kuga, and was surprised to find it passed muster.
They've got to be pretty old to need to pay.
Snaps

This item was edited on Tuesday, 5th September 2023, 13:54

It appears my Diseasal 2013 Corsa if a foul polluting behemoth that's killing the planet...

Any way I couldn't give a toss about ULEZ as not going into any cities to sit in static traffic for hours on end, it does double the MPG that the wife's petrol 2019 Corsa which is compliant does... and is only £35 a year to tax...

The diesel is ten years old, has 125k on the clock, so in the greater scheme of things is probably more green than most electric cars, with batteries that have components mined the other side of the world, that degrade in efficiency after a few years and cost half the price to manufacture!

Oh and lets not forget the energy to charge the electric cars, that comes from predominantly fossil fuels!

Quote:
marksparks999 says...
"Oh and lets not forget the energy to charge the electric cars, that comes from predominantly fossil fuels!"
For now... but if we ever get a forward thinking government there is no reason we can't reach 80% or more of our energy from renewables like a significant number of other countries have done.

Imagine reading about how petrol prices have just leaped up again and not caring?


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