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.

Hopefully someone has told you to educate yourself by now.

Oh, and if you think it’s been just about the environment then you clearly haven’t been listening. It’s primarily being brought in for health reasons.

The President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health backs it. She knows first hand the damage toxic air is doing to child health. Why doesn’t that matter to you?

I think it would have been far better to say that all new cars sold in this country have to meet the emissions criteria. Stop allowing people to buy massive gas guzzlers to drive on our tiny roads. Bring back the scrappage scheme as it was under Blair.

The current scheme just enables rich people to carry on doing whatever they like, whilst poor people struggle because they suddenly can't afford to get to work / hospital / kids to school etc.

Not completely correct.
Greater Manchester's Clean Air Zone is "Under Review". It has been for over a year. There have been no charges here yet. Also it was meant to be Class C so would not affect private cars.

Everyone does not agree that they need to tackle climate change. Only those in the Guardian bubble, perpetually outraged by everything believe that everyone thinks this.

In the real world, a vast number of people are just trying to get by in their everyday lives.

Lots of people drive old cars. Guess why? Because they can't afford new cars. If they could afford shiny new efficient cars or electric cars, they would be driving them. This is another taxation on the less well off.

I don't know about that.

We're pretty wealthy - 5 bedroom house in the Home Counties, 2 kids at private school, comfortable 6 figure income, 6 figure savings (excl pensions), and as I posted up thread we drive two old bangers a 55 an 56 plate (and they are a Vauxhall and a Ford, so nothing fancy).

We could easily afford to upgrade, but cars aren't important to us, we don't drive many miles (commute by train for practical and environmental reasons), so bangers suit us fine. We buy cars at about 3 years old, and replace when it's no longer financially or practically viable to keep repairing/maintaining them. The two cars we have at the moment have been outstandingly reliable tbh. As it is, our cars are compliant, but if they weren't we would be buying two newer, compliant cars, as we live a few miles out of the ULEZ zone, so have need to drive inside it regularly. So in our case, the ULEZ regulations would be doing exactly what they are intending to do.

Absolutely.
Also the people who've upgraded their cars where do they think their old car has gone?
To someone less well off, you can't take the moral high ground if you sold it for anything other than scrap value.

I've not read the whole thread, so don't know if this has been mentioned but Glasgow City Council has 600 vehicles, a third of its fleet Inc bin lorries and the provost's car that don't qualify for the low emissions zone.

Think what that does to the council tax bill? Hiring vehicles because their own don't qualify.

A know a few people who are having to replace their cars

ive recently bought a 2016 car and the prices for ULEZ compliant car have shot up

many people are really struggling with the cost of living another added costs is just not needed

I agree with this.

And there is a huge difference in transport options if you live in central London compared to living in a village with limited bus services which is in the countryside but happens to be in a London borough.

It's a tax on the less well off pure and simple

Unfortunately Sleazy Khan was my MP for a number of years. He has a long history of grandstanding and saying one thing in public and doing something else behind closed doors

He is a blight on London and with any luck this particular issue will see his removal next year

My neighbour had to buy a new car. He bought an identical car, exact same levels of emissions, but two years newer. All of a sudden the car, with the same levels of emissions, is approved for use in ULEZ. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

I'm not opposed to the idea of ULEZ just the way it's being carried out.

Oh dear in deed!

CR is funded (& messed up) by central govt and ULEZ, like many other similar schemes around the world (i.e the Crit Air scheme here in France) is about improving air quality by reducing the number of vehicles in congested cities.

I bet you also think speed cameras are all about money too and the Police should have "better" things to do.

I hope you're ripped right off by them. Trades people are so under appreciated. If it wasn't for us you wouldn't have the factories that build your brand new ulez compliant vehicles.

A good tradesperson - plumber, builder, electrician, general maintenance - is worth their weight in gold.

If you've been around a while then you have a little list of the trusted ones. I generally only do a new one on personal recommendation

I mean... the Edinburgh one doesn’t actually cover the parts of the city that have bad air pollution

Meh. I live the the current ULEZ zone - funnily enough the sky hasn't fallen in. I still get tradespeople, low income people aren't walking miles and miles to hospitals, shops are still open and trading well.

Car people really do get angry when forced to confront the negative externalities of their choices.

How do you feel about people who have boilers in their homes...do you get angry that they don't seem to care about the negative effects of their choices?

It’s not just old cars though is it? It’s a ridiculous scheme

Exactly.

It would make more sense, environmentally, financially and logically to have one single, national, all 4 nations, UK wide scheme phasing out the sale of biggest polluting cars, vans lorrys and trucks.

Trying to push it faster in cities just means people can't visit occasionally or they are forced to up grade vehicles.
The old cars aren't going for scrap they are being sold to people in rural areas or who never need to enter the city.

I'm sure someone in Glasgow City Council has had the job of swapping all the bin lorries around to make sure the ones that don't comply don't enter the city centre. Doesn't mean they aren't still being used and polluting the air.

I live in the ULEZ zone too, and I don't have a clue how every other single person in my area is living or what their circumstances are. That's quite some superpower you have.

My older car is Ulez compliant. I suspect this is like inheritance tax, more people feel they will be affected than actually will.

I'm compliant but I'm massively against ulez. Its the drip drip drip effect....pretty soon we will all be having to pay per mile. They have been consulting on this already.

I live in the ULEZ zone too, and I don't have a clue how every other single person in my area is living or what their circumstances are. That's quite some superpower you have.

Well as long as they're okay though right? If they are, everyone else must be.

Sadiq Khan has nobbled the BBC. A BBC whistleblower has said that Khan wrote to the BBC in order to influence how it reported on ULEZ. Apparently all journalists were told by the BBC that their reports had to toe Khan's party line.