Reward for reporting idling cars.

pwa
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by pwa »

Mick F wrote:
pwa wrote:I have always said that vehicle taxation should be shifted to the fuel, rather than VED and VAT. It ticks all the boxes for me.
Not for me it doesn't.

You'd be penalising drivers out in the countryside who have no choice but to use their cars.

I agree that in a Uptopian world, public transport would be everywhere for everybody, but until that comes, there are millions of folk who have no choice but to own and use a private car. Blame part of it on Dr Beeching.


But look at it this way Mick. pollution and congestion only happen when people actually use their cars. When they are parked they do no harm at all. It is the use, not the possession, that has to cost. Fuel tax does that. And it adds cost more or less directly in proportion to pollution. If you drive a big thirsty high performance diesel, you'd pay a lot per mile, with a much more efficient petrol hybrid like yours you'd pay much less per mile, and with an electric only car the tax could be zilch. I'd want it to be sold as "revenue neutral", so I would want the Treasury only to be clawing in what they lose by not charging VED. With a small car (paying VED on new ones these days) I'd have thought you might actually save a few quid.
Bmblbzzz
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Bmblbzzz »

atlas_shrugged wrote:Snitching Britain eh?

That being the case of claiming a percentage of the snitch, I would like to claim a percentage of all the sleeping policemen being removed in the UK. These have led to a massive increase in pollution and damage to brakes and suspension. Especially in towns and cities.

I am rich, rich, rich... Oh wait we do not do common sense in this country!

In France we think we saw a system that recognised cars coming into a village and if they were too fast they received a red light somewhere in the centre of the village. This seems a much more sensible system as the sanction is imposed only on the speeding drivers. I guess it would need to be backed up by a massive penalty for driving through a red light.

I believe T42 has reported that these don't necessarily react to speed, just to the presence of a vehicle, including a cyclist.
Bmblbzzz
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Use v possession, fuel duty v VED, is too simplistic an argument. Possession without use is also damaging; look at the crowded city streets, crowded with parked cars. Bear in mind also the environmental costs of production. Also, the big hit* of annual VED can be one thing that tips the mental balance between ownership and not. But to say higher fuel duties would be "penalising" rural dwellers is hyperbole; rather, those who use more (regardless of where they live) should fairly pay more.

*Big? When I started driving, VED was £100 a year for a car. For some cars, it's now less than that, and even the maximum, at £570, has barely kept up with inflation.
Samuel D
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Samuel D »

Mick F wrote:You'd be penalising drivers out in the countryside who have no choice but to use their cars.

If true, is that inherently a problem? They choose to live in the countryside. A consequence of that choice is that they might have to spend a little more to get around. None of us has a right to unlimited personal mobility.

Certainly people in the countryside – or anywhere – do not have an inalienable right to run a car at such a low incremental cost that it doesn’t meaningfully restrain their use of it.

If I had my way, fuel would be much, much more expensive. That wouldn’t be a panacea, because wealth inequality in Western Europe is today more extreme than at any time since the 1920s, but it might finally wean large numbers of people off the enormous cars that do the most damage to roads, local air quality, global climate change, the safety of other road users, etc.

Bmblbzzz wrote:Use v possession, fuel duty v VED, is too simplistic an argument. Possession without use is also damaging; look at the crowded city streets, crowded with parked cars.

Right. So simply owning a car should have a non-trivial cost regardless of use. And parking it on city streets should have costs linked to vehicle footprint. As it is, parking a Smart car costs the same as an anti-social wankpanzer taking up two parking spaces and extending 2+ metres into the roadway (or, just as often, the footpath). Since parking fees are paid via licence plates and apps nowadays, the technical solutions already exist for the fee to be linked to vehicle size.
Rob Archer
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Rob Archer »

mjr wrote:
landsurfer wrote:Define "pointless idling" in a legal sense that will lead to a conviction ..... best of luck ... :)

Who needs a conviction? Just make it legal for people to cap the exhausts (which stops the engine, or at least makes it run like a dog and exposes exhaust leaks) and hand out free bungs and it'll deal with the worst offenders. After all, if someone can cap the exhaust unmolested, you were probably idling illegally, weren't you?

Where's the UK equivalent to http://www.ITurnItOff.com?
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mjr
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by mjr »

atlas_shrugged wrote:In a 30 zone travelling at less than 30 I brake to say 10mph for a sleeping policeman and then accelerate increasing my emissions but hopefully preserving brakes and suspension.

Everyone should learn to decelerate without braking for such things, reducing your emissions and preserving brakes. It's not like speed humps jump out of the bushes, is it? They're usually signed well in advance, as well as directly visible, normally with a bizarre misuse of Benelux sharks-teeth give-way markings along their edges.

Maybe we should put up cameras at speed humps too and prioritise braking drivers for retesting?
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Bmblbzzz
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Samuel D wrote:
Bmblbzzz wrote:Use v possession, fuel duty v VED, is too simplistic an argument. Possession without use is also damaging; look at the crowded city streets, crowded with parked cars.

Right. So simply owning a car should have a non-trivial cost regardless of use. And parking it on city streets should have costs linked to vehicle footprint. As it is, parking a Smart car costs the same as an anti-social wankpanzer taking up two parking spaces and extending 2+ metres into the roadway (or, just as often, the footpath). Since parking fees are paid via licence plates and apps nowadays, the technical solutions already exist for the fee to be linked to vehicle size.

Interesting idea. I have a feeling goods vehicles used to be taxed in relation to surface area in France, or maybe still are? Yes, it would be possible and it would be beneficial, though I feel height should also be a factor - because height reduces visibility along and across the road, as well as feeling physically intimidating to smaller people including children. And the whole cubic (as it now would be) volume should be only one factor along with weight and emissions. Perhaps better to link it to residential parking permits rather than VED? As well as parking tickets generally.
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Samuel D »

More good ideas, Bmblbzzz.

Something, anything, should be done to prevent enormous SUVs and luxury sedans being the default choice of vehicle for people to commute to work in solo. These vehicles are so cheap to own that anyone can and does choose them nowadays. School teachers and electricians drive them. That state of affairs is profoundly harmful on so many levels.

I guess the main reason successive governments have ignored this elephant in the room is that they’re petrified of irking the car manufacturers, who already call the shots in whole cities and enjoy tax concessions that distort the market yet further against public transport. My frustration at the short-sightedness of government is nowhere greater than when it comes to the scourge of mass private car use. It’s such an obvious problem, and partial solutions are so obvious, and yet nothing serious ever gets done about it.
rasabasa
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by rasabasa »

Although topic is "Reward for reporting idling cars", I did not manage to find information where can you report such behaviour.

I have just made a picture of a van, where a person (during his working hours) is sleeping with his feet up while engine ir running for at least 30 min.

Would anyone know where I could report similar cases as this tends to happend too often next to where I live. It seems that these drivers are being paid by the amount of fuel they burn. Which is not right!
mattheus
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by mattheus »

rasabasa wrote:Although topic is "Reward for reporting idling cars", I did not manage to find information where can you report such behaviour.

I have just made a picture of a van, where a person (during his working hours) is sleeping with his feet up while engine ir running for at least 30 min.

Would anyone know where I could report similar cases as this tends to happend too often next to where I live. It seems that these drivers are being paid by the amount of fuel they burn. Which is not right!

If that is true, it might be more useful to name-and-shame the company in the local press - or perhaps on social media channels relevant to their business.
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Samuel D »

I doubt they’re running the engine to deliberately burn fuel. They just don’t care that fuel is burned and exhaust emitted – typically noxious diesel exhaust, typically too cold to rapidly disperse upward, typically two feet from pedestrians – while they run the heater or charge their phone or some such. Of course this does a diesel engine no good either, but they care still less about that if they even know it.

“… they use their cars as overcoats …”
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Cyril Haearn »

If the name of the firm is on the vehicle, just inform the employer

There is a folding bridge near me, lots of mortons leave their motors running or start them too soon. While cycling by I shout 'MOTOR OFF!'
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Bmblbzzz
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Yep, report that to the employer. With photo on twitter if you can.
100%JR
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by 100%JR »

Cyril Haearn wrote:There is a folding bridge near me, lots of motorists leave their motors running or start them too soon. While cycling by I shout 'MOTOR OFF!'

To which I'd reply "F*** OFF" :lol:
I hired a van to go on holiday last month.VW Transporter which has the stop/start engine.First thing I did when I got in the van is start it then switch off the stop/start.It's just annoying :roll:
We're back to the time of year where I start my car at work after nights about 20-25 mins before I clock out so it's nice a toasty when I get in 8) I'm not the only one either.Most do.I can't remember when I last scraped frost off a windscreen...that's what the engine and heated windscreen is for 8)
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Reward for reporting idling cars.

Post by Cyril Haearn »

The bridge is open for more than ten minutes, when driving I found it very relaxing to stop and wait
A modern engine doesnae need 20 minutes to warm up

Obviously fuel is still far too cheap
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