Motoring
EMISSIONS AND OMISSIONS
The letter from Transport for London addressed me as Dear Registered Keeper, asked if I was ready for 8th April and advised that my vehicle may not meet the required ULEZ emissions standards.
Many owners of cars of a certain age, within and without London, will now know to their cost about the Ultra Low Emission Zone and its charge of £12.50 per day (24/7) for driving or keeping their vehicles within the capital’s congestion charge zone.
As from October 2021, the ULEZ will expand from those eight square miles of central London to the entire area bordered by the North and South Circular roads, about 146 square miles.
This is Mayor Sadiq Khan’s wheeze for cleaning London’s air. His letter explains that ‘London’s toxic air contributes to thousands of early deaths each year and is putting the health of children at risk.’ Now, wishing for cleaner air in our cities is motherhood-and-apple-pie stuff – how can we not? – but that doesn’t mean that warning predictions and proposed counter-measures are beyond query.
What exactly is the contribution of poor air quality to those ‘thousands of early deaths’? Is it possible to quantify it without resorting to highly theoretical, computerised extrapolations that may or may not represent reality? And what exactly is the risk to children compared with, say, the risk posed by emissions from the heating and cooling systems in London’s many government offices?
You don’t have to be a toxic air sceptic to suspect that the vagueness of these phrases conceals a lack of precise knowledge. However worthy the cause, if we’re ‘asked’ (ie, demanded of under threat of criminal sanction) to pay to mitigate it, then we should at least see the case made more clearly and honestly.
Happily, not all cars are affected. If your petrol car was registered in 2006 or after, you won’t have to pay. Exempt diesels, however, have to be Euro 6 compliant, which means registration after September 2015. Also exempt are vehicles classed as classics – those more than 40 years old that pay no tax and are not obliged to have an MOT. If you want to check your car’s status, go to tfl.gov.uk/ ulez and put in its registration number.
When this scheme was mooted, it was pointed out to the Mayor that it would penalise poorer motorists; people who are not politicians, can’t claim travel expenses or afford modern cars. Thus he announced a scrappage scheme under which motorists will be paid to exchange their older, polluting vehicles for cleaner new ones or for something called ‘travel credits’. The budget is £25 million (on top of £23 million allocated to help small businesses) but there’s no information yet as to who will qualify, nor for how much. It’s unlikely to be enough to enable shoestring motorists – those who buy cars for around £1,000 – to trade up to something costing £10,000.
I was puzzled by my Dear Registered Keeper letter because neither I nor any of the family vehicles live in London. The website confirmed that it pertained to my 2010 Volvo diesel estate which has occasionally visited London and perhaps paid the congestion charge, which may be how they got on to it.
However, my 1960 Fordson Power Major diesel tractor, which joyfully pollutes for England amid clouds of black smoke, is exempt. I doubt I’ll drive the old girl to London but it would be fun to chug-chug around the mayoral office.