To wonder what all the fuss is about ULEZ

[Winterday1991]

Hardly anyone is affected, only if you have a very old car. No, you should not be free to pollute the air by driving around in a polluting vehicle and so should have to pay a penalty to do so.

It annoys me as everyone agrees we need to tackle climate change, but no one wants the hit on their life/ change their lifestyles.

Because larger family cars pretty much all became Diesel by default when we were all told to scrap petrol. We have had to get rid of a late 2015 car that we were still paying for because it wasn’t compliant. Trying to replace it with a second hand petrol equivalent was virtually impossible.

I have a lovely 2013 Honda CRV with 67k miles on. It's Diesel, I've owned it for 6 years and it's lovely - air con, leather seats, reversing camera, built in sat-nav, electric boot opener. It's not an OLD car.

My high emissions 2006 petrol road legal track car is compliant but my every day £20 a year tax, lower emission diesel is not. i wont be swapping my 50mpg fast diesel out for another car so will just pay if i ever need to go to those area's.

I don't have a lifestyle that can rely on public transport, and luckily dont live in a major town or city to have to worry about it.

I do know though, that there are masses of people not paying any fine and its costing councils more to chase than they are owed.

ULEZ is Kahn’s way of plugging the holes in the budget for TFL
I had a diesel car whose emissions were so low I only paid £30 tax on it, it’s now been replaced by a far less fuel efficient older petrol car which avoids the charge it was either that or pay £12.50 a day to go to work in addition to the dart charge which was supposed to have been stopped when the crossing was paid for
I live in Crayford and work in Essex and I’m a shift worker, there is no public transport across the river so I would have to go into London and back out again adding 2 hrs onto a 14 hr day anyway that’s if you can find a train earl mornings or late nights
I’m not claiming any benefits so don’t qualify for the scrappage scheme
I did take part in the consultation which was a waste of time as Kahn ignored the results
I sincerely hope this ends him as mayor

Is that a question?

Why are posters using question marks at the end of statements these days?

Then ask them why. Is it a different vehicle or more than one because they need to bring more people or equipment?

Car tax is still cheaper why?

Got a letter last year

Me neither, it seems crazy when my 20-odd YO petrol car is compliant.

The diesel half of the hybrid is only Euro5 spec. You need to be Euro6 on the diesel engine part.

Most of them dodge tax, take on multiple jobs at a time. I have NEVER met a poor tradesman. They earn a fortune considering most of them come from very working class backgrounds

My god how dare they! They should know their place.

If people in Slough want a ULEZ zone, they should campaign for one, and vote for whatever party adopts it as their policy.

There was talk about Brighton council introducing one, but I don't know if it's been adopted as a policy.

We are a middle class family, we bought a new car in 2013 which was considered better for the environment and we pay £30 tax. A year. Going up to family, we cannot afford the £100 plus train tickets for all of us.

We also cannot afford to change our car.

How is any of that fair.

my dh work in the city he said a first it was quieter now back to normal levels

You can't live in the extended area and have noticed an improvement as it doesn't exist yet you live in inner London the low emission zone....which still has worse air quality than those of us living under Heathrow and surrounded by 3 motorways and 2 major routes in. Who are having the cars parked in our roads because they can't drive in....soon the outer edges of ULEZ will be fields turned to car parks.

I want to add even though I feel really sorry for car owners whose cars aren’t complaint, I do 1000% support ulez (and going further!) I just think more support needs to be available for those middle and lower earners that are badly impacted.

@spir1t I know it's not a race to the bottom but the OP is insistent that it's her clean air that is the most important. ULEZ is not about pollution it's about plugging Khan's black hole in his TFL finances.

The ULEZ expansion includes greater london, which includes area that are definitely NOT in any city and are in fact really quite rural.
The south east, which includes boroughs Bexley and Bromely (who are against the expansion), does not have any underground, and in some areas buses are very infrequent. Obviously, this depends on the area, and this may seem silly to some areas in rural yorkshire, etc., where I expect local transport to be even worse
It will affect those who live outside the area who drive in daily.
That said, it will only affect older cars (and fortunately my DS sold his diesel car 2 years ago).
It is not really about air pollution (as some of the areas are very rural), but really about collecting money - TfL lost a lot of money during the Lockdown, when they had to run some services, mainly empty (I travelled on some). If it was air pollution, then the cars that do not meet the requirements would be banned, but actually if you have the 12.50, then you can pollute all you like.
I suspect it will be used eventually for road pricing!

The first penalty is £60 but they double it for each subsequent breach up to £480 😳 it resets to £60 after 90 days.
Confusing that the schemes are different though. I wonder if vehicle compliance rules vary significantly as well? An obvious difference is that motorcycles are exempt in Scotland.

I totally agree with the idea of the scheme but I’m sure what irks is that rich Londoners who either have an electric car or switch cars every 1 or 2 years won’t pay a penny while many will struggle to pay it and certainly can’t afford to swap their cars. In some areas that transport infrastructure improvement needs to come first and many occupations eg trade people are going to have a really hard time of things. Better to start with a small fee and increase it over time rather than a wacking £12.50 In the middle of a COL crisis.

that all said, I’d still vote Labour. Tory government has cost me more than £12.50 a day. Surely that is the case for most?

Most of the time the Vehicle Excise Duty regime at the time of purchase "lives" with the vehicle for its life - so if it started at zero tax it will continue for life.

My car is affected by the zones. It's a 15 plate. It's a lovely car and there's no way I can afford to replace it like for like. I'd end up with something a lot smaller which just isn't suitable when you need to get two car seats and a mobility scooter in the boot (with an occasional wheelchair).

It's also ignoring the fact that most of emissions are caused by industry!

We live 40 miles from London but regularly have to travel inside the M25 for sports fixtures for our DCs. Fine for us because we have a compliant car but my dad will no longer be able to watch his GCs as his car isn’t compliant despite it being less than ten years old. He only has a small pension so can’t afford to buy another one.

@HappySonHappyMum the most informative and realistic post on this thread.

My friends, a couple, have a little gardening business. They took out a loan for a newer van which was promptly stolen and, insurance being what it is, they were left out of pocket by thousands. So they bought a much older one as they could afford nothing else.
They work their bollocks off for not a lot of money in summer, most of which is eaten up by extortionate rent. In winter they barely get buy as they're quieter.
They pay all their taxes correctly as well.

They're exactly the demographic who are getting shafted, yet we've got Marie Antoinette the OP posting offensive, spiteful nonsense about the working classes getting above themselves.

Anything that reduces pollution for all is good.