Are Porsche Drivers Being Unfairly Treated?
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone has recently introduced a significant increase to London’s congestion charge for drivers of gas guzzling cars. Presently drivers must pay £8 per day to enter the ‘congestion change zone’ in the centre of the city. Drivers of hybrids and low emissions vehicles are exempt from the charge, whilst under the new “polluter pays” scheme, drivers of cars emitting more than 225 grams of Co2 per kilometre will pay £25 per day.
It is estimated that the move will effect 
30,000 of the worst polluting vehicles in the city – particularly the so called “Chelsea Tractors”, large 4×4 vehicles used by residents to navigate London’s notoriously rugged terrain. Many Chelsea residents claim that these vehicles are essential for tackling obstacles such as curbs, pedestrians, motorcycle couriers and other small vehicles.
Environmental groups have predictably said that this initiative doesn’t go far enough, calling for an outright ban on such vehicles all together, along with compulsory vegan diets and the donation of all bonuses paid in London’s financial district to the campaign for lesbian whales.
Civil Liberties
Meanwhile, other interest groups have complained that their civil liberties are being curtailed and are unhappy that their fundamental rights to emit more pollution than anybody else are being violated. Observers in London have also noted that nobody seems to have told these people that driving whilst using cell-phones is now illegal, and that pedestrian areas cannot be used as parking spaces – presumably for fear of further upsetting them.
In a bid aimed at further improving the image of its customers, 
sports car manufacturer Porsche has announced its intention to take legal action against the city of London. Managing Director of Porsche UK, Andy Goss said “Not only is this rise completely unfair to many drivers, but it will also damage London-based businesses of all sizes, and successful people from across the world will start to think twice about basing themselves here if they think they are going to be used as cash cows for City Hall.”
Our opinion?
If you need to drive a large off-road vehicle around Chelsea then that’s your problem. It’s not cool and it’s not clever – you’ll work it out eventually, but don’t be surprised if others might expect you to contribute towards the cost of mitigating your pollution. In the meantime, real car lovers will continue to take advantage of London’s excellent public transport and save the pleasure of driving for more nimble, lightweight and fuel efficient cars on roads outside of London, where they can really be enjoyed.
More info: The Guardian
You should worry. We’ll be getting the congestion charge to get into Manchester before we get any improvements to buses or trains. They stop half the rail service in the autumn because of leaves on the line and the buses are fairly frequent but 20 minutes walk away. There’s no major cycle routes round here and about a gazillion cars on the road. The roads are busy all day and evening. Who is doing all the driving?