Scrapping the car tax. Is it a good idea?

[John]

Wouldn't it be better to increase the cost of fuel and scrap car tax altogether.

 

I personally think it is a good idea for 2 reasons.

 

It eliminates car tax cheats.

 

If you use the road more, then you pay more since more fuel is consumed. Why should someone who use a car once a week pay the same as someone who uses it every day? They are less likely to cause wear and tear on roads.

 

What are your views on this?

[RPG]

Our fuel duty is already high enough thank you.

 

it sounds a good idea in theory, but then again, so does communism

[kittykat]

I must admit paying out £62 for a tiny little circle is quite painful to do for me but it would probably work out cheaper for me to pay this amount every 6 months than to put petrol up to subsidise this and i just do average mileage.

[Phanerothyme]

i believe road fund licence should be related to mileage. The more wear and tear you put on the road, the more you should pay.

 

The idea that some chap who uses his car for occasional outings and picking up some shopping now and again, should pay the same road fund licence fee as someone who drives 34,000 miles a year on british roads is a bit silly.

 

maybe use car trackers to calculate mileage. then all roads could be privatised and could institute transparent tolls. The new road maps would be a nightmare since they'd need to indicate the cost of driving on each road - maybe it could be standardised in bands for motorway, dual carriageway, single lane highway etc.

[micksheff]

I just paid £92 for 6 months tax there is noway I would pay for 12 months tax I'm too worried that some thief would steal it.

[robh]

Road tax has the advantage of discouraging people hanging on to wrecks, an eyesore and a safety hazard. Rather than taking my old banger to the scrap yard, hang on to it for emergencies for example. When the Road Tax bill arrives and it costs more than the car is worth it makes you reassess the sense in keeping the car.

 

The tory fuel tax escalator was a good idea, progressively raising the tax on car use and hence gradually increasing the incentive to use public transport, walk or cycle which have health and environment gains. At the same time high fuel consumption vehicles got taxed more heavily for polluting more. Labour made a mistake by trying to hang on to the fuel tax price escalator when world oil prices were growing fast so the petrol price was increasing anyway and the combination began to hurt too much, so they scrapped it rather than suspending it.

 

The Labour proposals to fit a tracker in every vehicle and charge us for miles travelled is stupid. It achieves almost the same as increasing the fuel price but:

 

One way or another, the motorist will pay for the in-car transponder

 

Much of the revenue raised will by absorbed by the cost of the technology and administration

 

It empowers the government to access records of where each one of us has been and when. Don't think they will? Remember how they named Rose Addis in parliament in breach of medical confidentiality (IDS had respected her anonymity).

 

It taxes a low fuel consumption car at the same rate as a gas guzzler. In contrast high fuel tax bears down harder on the rich.

 

There may be differential tax rates on different roads, so it might cost more to travel by motorway - pushing vehicles off onto country roads and small towns causing more accidents, pollution, congestion.

[t020]

Running a car is very expensive, but the fact that public transport is so unbearable and degrading makes it all worthwhile. Standing out in the rain for a late bus waiting and waiting for it to arrive is not appealing at all. I don't understand where all the taxes go though. There are so many pot holes about it makes you wonder where the tax revenue is spent. Then you see the speed bumps, bus lanes for the 2 buses an hour, and the latest traffic 'calming' measures and it all makes sense. Motorists are paying to be forced off the same roads that they fund.

[DaBouncer]

If the government want to take over the bus, train, tram and all other public transport system I will HAPPILY use public transport again.

 

So long as they subsidise it and make sure everything runs like clockwork!

 

Anyone ever see the episode of Harry Enfield and Chums where he plays Yurgen the German. He waiting at the bus stop and the bus is late.

 

"Zis is most strange"; "On Ze time table it's states quite clearly that zer iz a bus due every 5 minutes"; "But already I have been standing ere for 8 minutes and I am ogling ze horizon and zer iz NO bus in sight". "ZIZ WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED UNDER ZE NAZI'S"

 

Hillarious!

[Phanerothyme]

Well I don't know which buses you people use, but the 76, 97, 75 and 22 are all good, frequent buses that are neither unbearable nor degrading.

 

I think fuel tax should remain in order to dissuade gas guzzlers, and road fund licence should be mileage based so that light road users are not penalised.

 

Basically cars should be more expensive to use the more they travel and the more uneconomical they are.

 

bus lanes are great. There's nothing quite like the feeling of zipping past a long queue of traffic on Arundel Gate whilst relaxing to music on the MD player and reading a newspaper.

[DaBouncer]

Well I get the tram to work usually and ok, it's a fairly smooth ride (apart from when it crashed nr Gleadless Townend, but I wont go into that)!

 

During the morning rush though it gets VERY crowded, VERY hot (even with windows open) and after 45 minutes (which is the journey time from mine to town) I am well p***** off but glad to be off the hell hole!

 

Taking my car takes only 30 mins (in rush hour traffic) to get to work, and I can have time by myself (or giving my fiancee a lift home too). I much prefer my car than the tram (especially in rush hour, over crowded trams).