Strange how things all come together at the same time. This past week it’s been the turn of road user charging, says Tristan Young
Ken Livingstone further decreased his standing with motorists and businesses by announcing plans to up the London congestion charge to £25 for all cars producing 225g/km or more.
However, Livingstone showed his complete lack of understanding by claiming this was really a 4×4 tax, then in reality the proposals will hit vast swathes of regular motorists running regular cars.
Meanwhile, the Queen outlined the Government’s plans for the future including plans for road user charging, not just for cities but, potentially, for all UK roads.
The linking factor here is black-box technology – devices that monitor cars (and therefore drivers) so that charges can be applied. In particular it’s the comments from Damian James at the ICFM conference that rang true.
James is a one-man crusade to not only reveal the benefits of black-boxes for fleets but also to make sure businesses don’t end up with a ‘Betamax’ black-box fitted to their vehicles. Check out James’s call for unity on black-box technology standards.
