Traffic strategy or social engineering?

People have moved to more efficient vehicles so fuel sales drop, therefore duty and road tax income on fuel falls. And the reward to the motorist for being more ‘environmentally minded’ is to be charged more.

It’s already been put out in the media that duty may rise 3p per litre in this year’s budget because of lower fuel sales due to these efficiencies – how long before an electric vehicle gets a tax on it?

On 1 September 2018 the new ‘real time’ emissions will come in, which will see an increase on all new cars registered from that date.

While the emission figure has changed, it won’t see an increase in any vehicle pollution as it’s just a moving of the goalposts by the EU after the emission scandal of a couple of years ago to give a truer reading – and it collects more money.

I would expect it to bring in over £300,000 to the States in the next 12 months and they have nothing to do other than collect this extra windfall, so why increase fuel duty this year?

Dropping speed limits is on the table, which will increase emissions and do nothing for safety, which has already been proved in Bath and North East Somerset where over 50% of the roads they reduced the speed on saw an increase in accidents.

Speed limits have been in place from the day it took a car far too long to stop and people who speed ignore limits anyway.

I would increase the speed limits on the main outer roads, the coast, Forest Road and Les Banques, to 40mph and leave the rest alone.

Modern cars are designed with safety at the forefront for passengers, pedestrians and other road users and stopping times are so much better than when the speed limits were set after the war.

Where are we heading with all these changes? The Traffic Strategy from a few years ago is in tatters, a process started with the infighting in the Environment Department that split the committee in the last term leading to resignations, then to this term of social engineering in my opinion to push the motorist into other forms of transport. It’s not dealing with a strategy that’s good for all.

We need parking on the outskirts of town (Charroterie tyre company site would be perfect for a multi-storey), that would bring life back to the Old Quarter. The old Guernsey Brewery could have been another but that’s gone so maybe Salerie needs digging out for a multi-storey. Sorry people – it would involve paid parking, but it would reduce people driving along the seafront and lower-paid Town workers could get free parking on days that they work if a modern computer system was in place.

Set up bus stations either side of St Peter Port (North Beach and Havelet) to reduce traffic across the seafront, it works on Seafront Sundays. North Beach to service the north and west of the island, Havelet to service the south and south west etc., and keep the buses off the seafront. There would also be less traffic on the seafront if enough edge-of-Town parking was available, making a quieter seafront as a lot of traffic through it currently is drivers looking for parking.

Remove parking zones on Saturdays all year round, as trialled at Christmas successfully, because Town needs to be vibrant. It’s hard enough competing with the internet without parking being reduced, so help retailers, don’t hinder them.

Pedestrianise Church Square, maybe with a cafe. Make it pedestrian-friendly as it’s not now. This would help bring a Continental feeling to the focal point of our beautiful town.

We need a structured bus fare, not £1 everywhere while the taxpayer subsidises each trip by over £2. For example £1 to St Martin’s or the Grange, £2 to the Airport or L’Aumone, £3 to Pleinmont or Vazon and similar across the island with a £10, around-island hop-on-hop-off

bus.

We cannot continue to use fuel as a tax collection point as more efficient hybrids and electric vehicles come in. And yes, sorry to say, an annual road/emission tax may need to be considered with exceptions for certain areas, classic cars, bikes, limited-mileage cars and some consideration given to freight vehicles (maybe a fixed charge annually), but with the ‘road tax’ element on fuel (21p per litre) to be removed if this came in. Let taxis buy duty-free fuel, thus reducing fares to encourage their use as an alternative transport. Do not their competitors, the buses, have this privilege?

Guernsey still does not have a rear seat-belt law, even with all this talk of ‘doing many things under the safety banner’. Why not? We have no MoT or safety check yet are kidding the public that safety is at the forefront of Environment’s decisions. And with the EU considering cars without MoTs from their country of registration not being allowed in the future on their roads, we need to wake up to that call now.

We have to be careful that new policies are not being pushed under the ‘safety’ banner in such a way that if we don’t do what they want we feel guilty if something happens. Safety is the biggest thing in the production of vehicles, so don’t insult the manufacturers by implementing draconian ideas just to champion personal crusades, do it for the right reasons.

I’ve been involved in the motor industry for more than 40 years and have sat with many deputies over that time and argued my industry’s corner. In that time I have never seen all parties in the same room working together, motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, bus users, taxis etc. Isn’t time this was done? It seems the current way of thinking is to divide and conquer.

I will be challenged with my comments, criticised by some, and said that I am looking after my own interests, but I have nailed my colours to the mast. The one question I would ask to those who disagree with my ideas is, ‘would you give up your car tomorrow?’

If the answer is ‘no’, then think what you should do before someone else does it for us. Speak out, all road users need to work together.

DAVE BEAUSIRE,

Chairman,

Le Mont Saint Garage Ltd.