Like all the other suggestions, this one though would hit many people who cannot afford a replacement car, those who currently need diesels in rural communities and of course commerce. I think your suggestions on road tax and extra incentives for replacing diesels should be more than enough to stop dead the flow of diesels into the market and allow those who can afford to replace old ones do so.Also, stick a levy of 50 cents per litre on Diesel, again with immediate effect. Then increase by a further 50 cents per litre each Budget going forward. All funds raised from this source to be invested in proper cycle lanes (not white lanes painted on the edge of a road).
I suspect Vans and Commercial Motors Vehicles are not in a position to change over in 3 years,There's a very simple starting point here...
Increase the road tax on Diesel Cars by 100%, effective immediately (to help reverse the stupid current situation, where road tax is cheaper for diesel cars then petrol). Then increase it by a further 33% per year for the next 3 years, then increase it by a further 100%. All increased tax from this source to be used to invest in more electric charge points.
Also, stick a levy of 50 cents per litre on Diesel, again with immediate effect. Then increase by a further 50 cents per litre each Budget going forward. All funds raised from this source to be invested in proper cycle lanes (not white lanes painted on the edge of a road).
Ban the importation of all s departments diesel cars, with immediate effect.
Ban all Government Departments and State Agencies from buying Diesel Cars and give them 5 years to dispose of any currently held.
All state employees, and contractors to stop receiving mileage payment for journeys made in diesel cars, in 3 years time.
People trading in Diesel Cars against Electric or Hibred Cars to get a €5k tax break against all personal income, once they first register the new car and provide evidence that their former Diesel car has been traded in.
There you go, radical, simple and effective ...
The big white elephant in the room that our government won’t tackle in our cities is public transport. Not alone are there no regular joined up services, there is little evidence of joined up thinking. A decnt public transport service could take thousands of cars off city / suburban roads, but there is no will to do it. Why you’d wonder. Maybe because it might mean work for a few of the high-paid help and some tough, unpoular decisions..
Galway City is now almost at a standstill at rush-hours, morning, midday, school quitting times and end of the working day. The answer they have come up with is to build more roads for more traffic on a ring road, which will increase the distances between start-points and destinations, resulting in more fossil fuel being consumed and more pollution. The additional “hard landscaping” will destroy trees and other parts of the natural environment that soak up water efficiently and effectively, will potentially increase localised flooding and add to the burden on the creaking waste-water management system.
Fix the public transport problem first. Increase the number of local train services from places like Athenry into the heart of Galway City, be innovative. The old solutions to traffic and congestion problems are what got us to where we are. The true sign of insanity is repeating the actions of the past expecting different outcomes now.
Like all the other suggestions, this one though would hit many people who cannot afford a replacement car, those who currently need diesels in rural communities and of course commerce.
The thing is MrEarl, it is only 12 years ago that the government was highly incentivising diesel cars through cheap road tax. If they take your advice and immediately hammer those people who took their advice would that not seem a bit two faced? If incentives worked before (and the evidence is that a lot of people did move to diesel at that time) then surely incentives are the way to go again - not penalties.
The reality is that we need diesel car owners acting quickly, not pussy footing around for 5-10 years. As I'm sure you appreciate, we need them to act quickly for two extremely important reasons :
- to help reduce damage to the environment
- to help reduce the risk of the entire Irish nation getting hit with a massive financial penalty, come 2030.
Paradoxically, getting rid of diesels is actually going to increase the likelihood of those fines, because while diesels are bad local polluters (NOx, PM etc) they produce quite a bit less CO2, which is the EU target we're at risk of missing. So ideally any carrots/sticks would encourage drivers into hybrids/EVs instead of petrols.- to help reduce the risk of the entire Irish nation getting hit with a massive financial penalty, come 2030.
Yeah I'm with you on the need to act on this MrEarl but I just don't think the carrot and stick approach is quite enough carrot and is too much stick.Hi,
I've proposed a combination of "carrot and stick", not just penalties (ref: post #20).
That said, the longer people hold out and don't get rid of their diesel cars, the more they get penalised.
Those who own diesel cars have enjoyed the benefits, but those benefits didn't come with lifetime guarantees etc.
The reality is that we need diesel car owners acting quickly, not pussy footing around for 5-10 years. As I'm sure you appreciate, we need them to act quickly for two extremely important reasons :
- to help reduce damage to the environment
- to help reduce the risk of the entire Irish nation getting hit with a massive financial penalty, come 2030.
Obviously, I appreciate that we need other significant changes, besides getting people to change their private cars, but this is an important step in the right direction, and a lot less complicated to roll out quickly, IMHO.
Paradoxically, getting rid of diesels is actually going to increase the likelihood of those fines, because while diesels are bad local polluters (NOx, PM etc) they produce quite a bit less CO2, which is the EU target we're at risk of missing. So ideally any carrots/sticks would encourage drivers into hybrids/EVs instead of petrols.
That has been covered many times, possibly even in this thread. It is utterly false.It would be far better for the environment if motorists with older diesel engines (euro5 or less) and petrol engines were encouraged by government schemes to upgrade to the euro6 diesel engines. They are the most environmentally friendly ones available and have a lower carbon footprint than electric cars.
It would be far better for the environment if motorists with older diesel engines (euro5 or less) and petrol engines were encouraged by government schemes to upgrade to the euro6 diesel engines. They are the most environmentally friendly ones available and have a lower carbon footprint than electric cars.
Bikes don't make a soundI regularly travel to part of London that's in the "Ultra Low Emission Zone". It's been transformed for the better. Roads are safer, air is better, lots of parking spaces converted to on-street charging points. I have even seen kids on bikes playing in the streets at the weekends, for the first time in my lifetime. There are now quite a lot of electric vehicles, BUT beware what you wish for. The electric vehicles are very dangerous for the many pedestrians and cyclists because they don't make any noise. You really have to have your wits about you. And don't forget around one-fifth of UK electricity is generated from nuclear, only about one-third is from renewables, though of course, that is better than none.
To aid this problem, a new Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1576 mandates that all new types of electric and hybrid cars to be fitted with a new safety device as from 1 July 2019, the acoustic vehicle alerting system (AVAS).
The device will automatically generate a sound from the start of the car up to the speed of approximately 20 km/h, and during reversing. The sound-emitting device will be obligatory in all new e-cars as of 1 July 2021.
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