London triples Congestion charge for gas guzzlers

Mike, although I agree with you, let's not forget those English things that we've already imported.
Round a bouts.
Self service at servos.
Hot Xmas dinners
etc etc etc.

Imagine having to fork out $58 AFTER paying the tolls on the roads.(and probably a surcharge if you have a bull bar) That's the sort of sillyness we're likely to end up with here. And I'd suspect for entirely the wrong reasons.

Oh for a Govt ANYWHERE that doesn't raise existing taxes or levvy new ones. (Sorry, must be in my dreamtime again:)

Why is such a bad idea? The Congestion Tax discourages a lot of people who don't need to drive in the city from doing so. Having a resonable train system helps in London but it has made it possible to drive in the city if you really need to whereas before the tax it was a nightmare. Believe me it will come to Sydney and Melb and as I only visit there occasionally so what. I travel out of the city when everyone else is coming in and every car has one person only so wheres the sense in that.

Here are some more quotes from the article -

"the change is primarily aimed at the big cars owned by people in wealthy parts of the capital such as Chelsea."

"Nobody needs to damage the environment by driving a gas-guzzling 'Chelsea tractor' in central London. The CO2 emissions from the most high-powered 4x4s and sports cars can be up to four times as great as the least polluting cars,"

"Cars that produce more than 225 grams of carbon emissions per kilometre will pay a £25 fee upon entering the centre of the capital during weekdays."

Now the facts - The Commodore, Falcon and 380 all produce more than 225 grams per km !! They must be disgusting Chelsea tractors

I was watching Top Gear the other night, They showed the new Porsche, when driving around London, It's emissions were cleaner coming out the exhaust, than the air that was going in the intake.

Cheers Steve.

That is ridiculous. I am glad even though I was born in the UK, I don't live there. That really is insane. Now After living my whole life in Aus (now in the US) I have gone from somewhere where they charge $60 a day for driving and petrol at over a pound a litre, to no congestion charges, but having toll roads and fixed speed cameras everywhere. Now I have none of the above, fuel at 75-80c per litre, higher speed limits, and nobody suggesting I need a special 4x4 license to drive a 4x4!! And instead of the government taking all our money, they are actually sending out cheques to give it back! The UK system really drives up inflation and it's really bad for the economy in my opinion..And it ruins everyones fun. I vote Jeremy Clarkson as next British Prime Minister.