Michael, On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 11:44:16 -0000, Michael Rigby-Jones wrote: > There are also rumours that the government is considering dropping our= > annual "road tax" of between 80-160GBP (exact price depends on engine > capacity or CO2 emmisions depending on age of car) and will instead ad= d even > more tax to fuel. Figures of around 1.00GBP per litre are being sugge= sted, > which would mean a massive increase in tax for anyone doing the averag= e > 10,000 mile per year in an average car doing say, 35MPG. No change there, then - the government has always seen drivers as an ine= xhaustable source of revenue so they can waste it on daft schemes that anyone else could have told them were = destined to fail... I have always said it should be the other way round: pay =A31000 a year = for the car, and reduce the tax on fuel. Why? Because doing it "their way" encourages people to buy cars, and th= en hardly ever drive them, leading to inexperienced drivers, a reduction in the standard of driving (which see= ms to be happening anyway) so more accidents. Instead of putting in "traffic calming", speed cameras, and all the othe= r tripe to the detriment of drivers, I think they should be working to increase the skills and standards of dri= ving. How? Why not periodic driving tests, that actually test the person's driving abilities properly, not j= ust the ability to do a couple of maneuvers and not run over many pedestrians? That would provide a reven= ue stream to HMG and weed out those that really shouldn't be on the road (such as an aunt of mine who is phy= chologically unsuitable to drive - she treats it as a battle of egos between her and the rest of the world, and= is dangerous as a result). The result would be an increase in the standard of driving, and fewer accide= nts. And instead of banning drivers who accumulate too many points, make them= attend a driving-remedial school and pass a test thereafter, as I believe they do in California. > Another golden opportunity for the governement to shaft the car driver= ... "Congestion charge" - coming to a road near you! :-((( Cheers, Howard Winter St.Albans, Herts -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.