From Brian Rondel, former chief officer, Motor Traffic Department.
I refer to Senator Terry Le Main’s proposal of a new road tax.
Oh dear, the poor old motorist. What a to-do. Petrol allegedly rising to £5 a gallon and the petrol attendant threatening to tell the police that your tyres need replacing.
Now Terry wants to introduce an environmental tax which he thinks will make a real difference. This is not an environmental tax; it’s a ploy to hit the motorist to subsidise the Hoppa bus and to introduce new apparatus similar to that on the Trim Trail designed to make walkers even fitter. What utter nonsense.
Well over 20 years ago we introduced emission testing on large commercial vehicles, buses and coaches because at that time there was a real problem. To the best of my knowledge annual testing of these types of vehicle is still carried out by DVS.
However, engine design and exhaust emission has come on in leaps and bounds, and bears little relation to the smokers of yesterday. The larger private vehicles referred to as gas guzzlers that I see appear to be mostly new and their emission meets the highest standard.
If there needs to be a form of emission testing, I would suggest that the motor traders include it as part of annual servicing.
I am sure that the insurance companies would not welcome the additional work collecting the tax on behalf of the States. I suspect that the additional costs would be passed on to our insurance premium.
In 1994 the Defence Committee discarded the annual registration scheme and introduced a new system. To equal the amount of revenue the States would have received on tax, the cost of fuel was increased by so many pence per gallon. This system was looked upon by the committee as fair – the more fuel you burn the more you pay.
I am fed up with people telling me I should walk or cycle. I shall leave that to Terry and the Wimberleys of Wobbledown.
