Diesel scrappage

[Huge]

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Hardly NO2, though, is it? And "visible smoke" is an MoT failure, so he's already illegal. (I'd favour automated enforcement of that rule, over speeding.)

[Huge]

Quite.

[Huge]

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Wanna buy a bridge?

[Huge]

I've always thought they were an ideal population to convert to electric, LPG, etc.

When I was travelling to New York City a lot for business, it always struck me how much cleaner the air was there than London. I assumed that was because of the much smaller number of diesel vehicles; the taxis are petrol and I believe the buses run on LPG.

[Huge]

We've had that happen twice. On both occasions my wife was rushed straight past the A&E queue.

[harry]

To what?

[harry]

Be warned. Nobody can fix electric/hybrid cars should it go wrong.

[damduck-egg]

And it overflows into the hinterland. Doesn't Pounder with his plastic butterflies live around there in the Preston area.

G.Harman

[harry]

Even if true (unlikely), they canbe shielded against.

[harry]

Railway locomotives could be electric & could do a lot of the above.

[charles]

pray, how do electric railway locomotives do most of the above without the tracks being converted to provide power and then laid through all the city streets? I suppose you could call them trams .......

[Chris Hogg]

Yebbut there'd be complaints from the RSPB that wearing foil coats inhibited their ability to breed!

[Roger Hayter]

It is possible (and easy from the DVLC database by ANPR) to identify and penalise diesel cars, and the authorities have no reason whatever to be consistent in their treatment of other static and vehicular diesel engines. They can rationalise their policy if they want to, and the rationalisation may even make sense. I've no idea what proportion of diesel pollution comes from cars, but I am pretty sure it would harder for a railway locomotive to be converted from diesel to petrol or batteries than for a car.

[Martin Brown]

I save more than that *per week* by having a diesel car even in the UK where ridiculously diesel fuel is more expensive than petrol.

If they put hard constraints on driving in some inner cities then I simply won't drive there. Normally I take park and ride or buses into major cities anyway since parking there is expensive and/or impossible.

[Robin]

Trams on streets? The cyclists would never allow it!

[Dave Liquorice]

So? All that area has very good public transport. The vast majority of people in that area have no real need to own a car. Taxi for the weekly shop (or shock horror just walk more often) for groceries, hire for the occasional longer journey. With a car costing around

40p/mile to run (fuel, insurance, maintenace, depreciation, etc) the £2000 that 5,000 miles/year costs buys quite a few taxi trips and hires...

[Dave Liquorice]

And wait the hour it'll take to arrive?

The local retained(*1) Ambulance will probably arrive in 10 minets or so but I don't think they are allowed to transport a patient the 30+ miles to hsopital. If only because it would mean no ambulance cover for the 2 hours (plus waiting time at A&E...) that it would be away for. Serious cases would be transported by the air ambulance, assuming the weather will allow it and it's not dark(*2).

(*1) Ambulance crewed by properly trained volunteers, a bit like the retained fire stations. I think it's the only such crewed ambulance in the country.

(*2) They may now have night flying qualifications and equipment. IF they do it's a fairly recent addition to the GNAAS capabilties.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And how about those who live there? Are they to be denied owning a car?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Pretty well every diesel seems to smoke if you accelate hard after a period of gentle use. You'll see that at the start of the M4 at London where it becomes a 70 mph limit, and uphill.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Not quite sure how having things delivered by a diesel van or using a diesel taxi is going to help pollution?

And running costs are entirely dependant on the vehicle.

One thing that seems to be ignored by the politicians. Some of the highest pollution readings are obtained in Oxford Street - where private cars are banned.