Warning! to all Diesel Van owners (lez London)

I deliver to the fruit and veg markets thats Spitalfield Covent and Western. All of which are in the LEZ zone. Looking at the state of some of the vans now, and the lorries that were being used prior to the first stage of LEZ coming in, its probably not a bad thing. Some of them i don't know how they were/are legally on the road.

I benefit as I get a new lorry every now and again, which i probably wouldn't otherwise and be driving around in a heap of rubbish like the other drivers on our firm who don't do London. My boss isn't one for spending money on vehicles.

Seriously tho, my take on the whole thing, is: i can perhaps see why business, theorectically the biggest users, should be targeted, but to extend this to privately owned/used vehicles ie campers Land rovers horse boxes etc etc, is a bit bad. But I suspect the problem is picking out who is using their vehicle for what purpose.


Someone metioned buses earlier, well i can tell you many of the older London buses end up here in Lincolnshire, where there is still a lot of privately owned bus companies. Here they smoke away until they die or fall in the ditches and dykes!!!

Except that the LEZ isn't about 'the environment', its about air quality which its why its only aimed at diesels. Its about health - pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma. Of course, you're right - building new cars or generating electricity releases soot as well, but its generally in places where you don't have 8 million people living.

Well no, its a gas. It disperses. So the further away you get from where its generated, the less you breath in. That's why air is cleaner in the Peak District than in Romford, or 2 inches from the exhaust pipe of a Mercedes Sprinter.

Anyway, I don't want to get drawn into an argument about it. There's very good criticisms of its impact on small businesses for a start, and I completely agree that there's inconsistencies in the way its applied (although something tells me people would moan a lot harder about the alternatives - compulsory testing for all vehicles before you can go into London to get rid of the LDV / Ford thing? Who pays for that?) But I think its important to know why its being introduced - its for London only because London is where the most people, most vehicles and most soot is and London is where most people are getting ill as a result. And I also know how much work has been put in to try and avoid the extension of the LEZ - the people who are doing it really don't want to, not least because they know how unpopular it will be. This hasn't just been drawn up on the back of an envelope.

Anyway, in a probably vain attempt to avoid lockage, have a truck.