£60 fine for failing roadside emission test
£60 fine for failing roadside emission test
Author
Discussion

ian d

Original Poster:

986 posts

276 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
there is a current proposal to fine motorists £60 in scottish cities if they fail a roadside emissions test.

article in www.thescotsman.co.uk

my question, if you have a valid MOT, what act or legislation are you charged under for failing the roadside test?
and could you challenge it because you have a valid MOT at which time the emissions had been tested?

i hope for some clarification from the great body of PH.

Plotloss

67,280 posts

291 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
There are emmisions cameras in certain parts of London that take a photo if your car doesnt comply.

Seem to remember them at one of the exits of the A40.

JMGS4

8,875 posts

291 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
ian d said:
there is a current proposal to fine motorists £60 in scottish cities if they fail a roadside emissions test.

article in www.thescotsman.co.uk

my question, if you have a valid MOT, what act or legislation are you charged under for failing the roadside test?
and could you challenge it because you have a valid MOT at which time the emissions had been tested?

i hope for some clarification from the great body of PH.

you'll probably find that your emission tests are only valid (as is an MOT) at the moment of test, not later...thus they have grounds any time to retest. You fail and it costs a fine........IMHO of course...
now when are they going to test Stinker BUSSES and trucks????

joospeed

4,473 posts

299 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
this is a shame, if only because every V8 cerbera ever made will fail!! (well almost anyway)
also sales of decat pipes will nose dive ... :sob sob sob:


Good news is sales fo 700 pound catalysts will go up

Joo :rubshandswithglee:

ian d

Original Poster:

986 posts

276 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
the whole thing just pi##es me off, it is just another ££ raising scam by the councils and stuff all to do with reducing city pollution.

if they wanted to reduce city pollution they would re-instate electric trams or trolley buses, but oh no, that is FAR TOO FAR sighted for any myopic city council.

_Al_

5,618 posts

279 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
Just another tax.

There's no way for the motorist to tell if their vehicle is over this limit or not. It's like an even better version of speeding!

There's no defence against this one. How's a poor student supposed to know if their 13 yr old banger still complies 11 months after its last MOT?

The driver isn't doing ANYTHING wrong, but they're still liable for a fine.

Disgusting.

tvrslag

1,198 posts

276 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
I thought it was already possible for a driver to be stopped and their car to be tested for emissions at a local test centre? Plus this should only apply to cars made after 1993 and it became law to fit cats to reduce emissions.
The simple fact is the current and previous Governments don't want us driving cars yet they know that on the whole us law abiding british citizens will just take the taxes in the pocket. Its just an underhanded way of trying to get us all to use buses trains and bikes.

streaky

19,311 posts

270 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
Presumably, the commonly applied procedure for failures under C&U Regs (which cover emissions?) is that if the vehicle is not dangerous the driver is given a fixed time to rectify and represent; whilst serious cases are taken off the road there and then. This looks like a "gotcha!" tax dressed up as "saving the environment" (slogan : "Think of the unconceived children"?) - Streaky

cptsideways

13,805 posts

273 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
At least it will get all the shitty 80's fords off the road & Maestro Diesels.

Most of these old duffers are probably untaxed, uninsured anyway.

No need to worry if you have a Jappo car though.

mcflurry

9,184 posts

274 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
I agree with the idea of getting polluting machines off the road...Trabant anyone

But £60 fixed penalties ain't the way to do it....

Apache

39,731 posts

305 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
That's me f**ked then

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

276 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
cptsideways said:
At least it will get all the shitty 80's fords off the road & Maestro Diesels.



And wot about classic, veteran and vintage machines, young sir?

Flat in Fifth

47,689 posts

272 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
The AA geezer seemed to be talking sense in the article,

Neil Greig a spokesman for the Automobile Association Motoring Trust in Scotland said:


"our view is that the real problem in Aberdeen city centre is actually caused by old buses, lorries and taxis - diesel-engined vehicles in particular.

"The trouble with these sort of measures is that they often seem to end up persecuting those people sitting in a modern car which is a lot cleaner than the dirty old bus going past it.

"If this is enforced fairly, and they target buses sitting at bus stops, that is going to have a much bigger effect on the air quality than booking the odd car driver."

Mr Greig added that the problem was down to a minority of badly maintained vehicles.

He said: "We have statistics which show that 10 per cent of the vehicles on the road cause 50 per cent of the pollution."



It seems that as this is a council enforced fine that the option to repair and test may not apply. So the driver will be forced to appeal to some adjudicator.

So what if you're tested with a clock cold engine? Even the MOT the engine has to be warmed up.

HarryW

15,777 posts

290 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
If it was aimed squarely at making city life more bareable then it would obviously target the smog generators i.e. Buses/Lorries and knackered 3000000 mile old diesel taxis. However we know it won't it'll be used as yet another revenue earner .

Being a legal numptie, amongst other things , I understand that 'ignorance' is not a defence. However, I always understood that 'intent' also had to be proved in someway before being found guilty. I wonder how far you would go expaining to 'me lud' that "no, I am not a vehicle mechanic. It wasn't explain to me at the MOT station that I had to get this checked out every day, twice a day, on the half hour, to ensure that I don't break the law. Even then there could be no garantees, that, at that or any precise moment in time, it would pass".
What would you be guilty of .
I only stress this point, as I also understand that 'reasonable' is a key point in law.
Any legal eagles want to chip in with some substance to my rambling .

Harry

_Al_

5,618 posts

279 months

Wednesday 21st January 2004
quotequote all
HarryW said:
However, I always understood that 'intent' also had to be proved in someway before being found guilty.



Only if you kill or rape someone. Motoring offences are far more serious, so there is no burden on the prosecution to prove 'Mens Rea' or 'Guilty mind' in order to convict.

n.b. mens rea almost certainly spelt wrong.

DennisTheMenace

15,605 posts

289 months

Thursday 22nd January 2004
quotequote all
Plotloss said:
There are emmisions cameras in certain parts of London that take a photo if your car doesnt comply.

Seem to remember them at one of the exits of the A40.


So how do they work If it looks a bit smokrey slap them with a fine ????

_Al_

5,618 posts

279 months

Thursday 22nd January 2004
quotequote all
DennisTheMenace said:

Plotloss said:
There are emmisions cameras in certain parts of London that take a photo if your car doesnt comply.

Seem to remember them at one of the exits of the A40.



So how do they work If it looks a bit smokrey slap them with a fine ????



Could be self defeating... Lots of pictures of clouds of smoke!

bumpkin

158 posts

276 months

Thursday 22nd January 2004
quotequote all
test for pre '74 cars is visual - i guess that's the the way the London system works - no vehicles should emit smoke so any that do are guilty.