Ulez

[OldCow1]

Got caught out. Had no idea was in the zone. Bought my diesel car because thought it was greener at the time. Just so upset. Trains were on strike. Never drive near London otherwise. Got fine letter late (royal mail strikes maybe?) I'm on about 2p above minimum wage. This just feels shit. £160 fine for one screw up. Off you go trolls

Interesting that you use 'sitting on mumsnet' as a negative here, as if you are not also using mumsnet. The nasty comments however, they only came from you.

It's a shame you are lashing out defensively rather than accepting your error.

But to buy your £3k car I would have to have £3k to spare ...the £385 I've been offered for my diesel Smax that has met all mot emissions tests runs perfectly and I've paid more than £3k for 6 years ago isn't going to pay for it....and my daughter's fiat Panda isn't going to carry 5 children. Of course I could put up each child's bill by £12.50 a week to cover it meaning one family finding an extra £100 a month.....I live under a flight path and bordered by 3 motorways and 2 main roads into London they are happily planning another runway to dump fuel on us but apparently asthma rates will be solved by Ulez....the building of HS2 with the grid locked heavy diesel lorry's that can be 10 in a row are not an issue either.

It’s a bugger when you’re caught out I agree but is the price of having a car. And the “bigger picture” to minimise the worse cars to minimise air pollution is right. Ours is also non compliant need to upgrade what a pain,

Define "worse for the environment"

It's not you

I think the signage isn't great and I live here! I must admit, I didn't know the fine was that much....I don't drive....that is awful. I'm so sorry. If I could think up a way to get you off the hook, I would.

I live on a street where traffic is displaced and it makes bus journeys twice as long. Praise be, I am leaving London soon.

I got 2 bus lane fines on one 3 hour round trip on a bank holiday. I stupidly thought they didn't apply on bank Holidays (It was an expensive error) and I didn't see a single bus in 3 hours of driving!

How tf does it do this? Do they buy clean air with money raised?

Reported the post? Melodramatic?, bit rich!

I don’t drive in London either, but I have heard of this and the congestion charge and if I were making a rare trip to London I would have looked into it. Or upon seeing all the signs I would have looked into it. I don’t drive over Dartford Bridge very often, but I know there is a charge and the big signs are a clue as well. It is very difficult to see how you can get caught out.

I'm guessing you missed the OP's second deleted post @Naddd

Yep tune to surrender your license. .

Licence

@Naddd the ULEZ charge and fine is to stop people with polluting cars driving in the zone and hence making air cleaner.

TfL also run public transport so they can invest money in to decent public transport so fewer car journies are needed.

Just pay the fine. There are sign’s EVERYWHERE- it’s even painted in the road!

It’s just a money making scheme by Khan. Most people can’t afford to buy electric cars!

Ummm. You don't need an electric car to be ULEZ compliant.

If they really wanted to help air pollutants why continue to allow increased air traffic that dumps loads of leaded air fuel everyday. The cars already meet emissions tests. Why not make changing more affordable giving £1000 to a few isn't making it affordable to most who brought cars that were allowed and paid tax on them and now can't afford to replace them and can't afford to go to work it's a tax on the poor. Not everyone can use public transport my husband's metalwork needs a glass van to carry it ...he did the Savoy in the past using rucksacks and the tube to save money for tools etc but gates don't fit. If this goes ahead he can't sell his van and can't afford a new one. I can't take 5 children on a bus to 2 schools so 4 family cars will be on the road instead.

So. At the moment I have to have a blood test every two weeks. Public transport to get blood test centre takes 45 minutes. To drive is 10 minutes. One I can nip out for and use my lunch break for. Public transport in central London is excellent. But once out in the suburbs it isn't always that great.

I got caught recently-I have a hybrid. Looked up the rules, which seemed to say that my emissions were below the level for paying the charge. Arseholes charged me anyway.

I am not sure of your point exactly?

It would also take me 40 odd minutes by bus to get to my nearest hospital and I too live in suburban London.

That does not negate the need for the ULEZ.

I would query that.

Convenience or inability to upgrade a car does not mean that people have right to continue use their polluting one.

Similarly the fact that some emissions are still compliant doesn't mean that older polluting cars are ok. Pollution is cumulative and the fewer polluting cars on the road the better.

No scheme is perfect but to let things go on as they were is utterly short term.

Having done my research, scrapping my ten year old car (sold on the basis of its eco credentials, and does 60mpg) and buying a newer car that meets our requirements would create much more pollutants than continuing to drive our car.

I was just pointing out that in the suburbs, public transport isn't anywhere near as good as in the centre. I now work from home (since covid I do around 2500 miles a year!), but my previous job was 2 hours on public transport or 30 mins in a car. To go to my local hospital is 3 different buses.

We have chosen to pay ULEZ twice a week for my son's hobby (public transport isn't an option at all for this). We live half a mile outside the zone. But expanded ULEZ I wouldn't be able to leave my road. No picking sick kids up from school. No driving to GP when ill. No dashing to pharmacy for a prescription. When ten years ago our car literally came with a Government endorsement for its eco friendliness.
I have NHS working friends living just outside the zone that don't kno how they will get to work. It's simply not as easy and 'changing cars'. Many people don't have enough money to do this when their current car isn't virtually worthless.

ULEZ is amazing - AQ on London streets has improved massively. BUT I do think a ‘first mistake’ letter ought to be sent, not an instant fine. Plus is deeply unfair the delay in the letter arriving means double fine. Am so sorry.

I never understood why people believed the claims that diesel cars were better for the environment. The point of diesel is that you get more mileage from a tank. Growing up in the 80s I don't think anyone said "diesel" without the word "dirty" preceding it. 'Look at that twat in their "dirty diesel" Mavis' - that kind of thing. I think a lot of it is Labour's fault, the claims that diesel was cleaner happened on their watch and they were/are not known for telling the truth, especially under Blair/Brown/Starmer.