Car mileage tax ‘ridiculous’ idea
FROM your report last Saturday, I see P&R (AKA the Department of Silly Ideas) are now trying to justify both their existence and penchant for squandering funds by seeking to introduce some weird form of road pricing – given, it seems, the amount of how much they can screw the motorist for on fuel duty may have reached its limit.
On such a small island where size must surely limit high annual mileage anyway, how do they propose to calculate this? Some form of spy meter in every car (who pays for that?), annual self-declaration, spot checks on speedometer readings (so long as the cable is not generally disconnected)? All other equally ridiculous suggestions most welcome for serious consideration.
I am all for enforcing measures designed to eliminate needless vehicle traffic, which seems to get worse and worse by the day, thus adding to the worrying levels of pollution, so support discouraging those who are either too idle to walk, don’t optimise their travel time and routes, or eschew the excellent service on over-wide buses – although I read public transport, at last, is now being used much more – but for the States to indulge in such a needless and impractical fantasy truly makes me wonder if your article was not intended for publication on either last, or next, 1 April.
As we know, London incurs congestion charges (which do not appear to be reinvested in easing the flow of course, so just another way to collect revenue too) and is now considering only zero-emission cars in certain areas, which seems eminently more sensible. So, for a start, why
not consider either for here? Or offer a proper incentive to drive electric (such as contributing towards the cost of home installation)? Given our travel distances are so modest, by merely charging batteries every night, this surely eliminates any risk of ever running on ‘empty’; or are these suggestions just too obvious and easy for the above named DSI to contemplate?
NICHOLAS BUSER
St Peter Port.