In an attempt to combat the amount of toxic pollution produced by diesel cars, the UK’s current plans are focused on making diesel drivers pay to enter cities and a possible taxpayer-funded scrappage scheme.
However experts have suggested that motor companies should pay for the crisis rather than drivers. Both the German and French governments have already required that manufacturers including Volkswagen, Opel, Audi, Mercedes and Renault fix over a million diesel vehicles which were spewing far higher levels of toxic pollution on the road than in official tests.
“The polluter should be paying, not the consumer and not the taxpayer. But the UK is doing nothing,” said Greg Archer, at NGO Transport & Environment and a former UK government air pollution expert.
“Whilst it makes sense to steer car owners away from diesel, it currently seems all about putting cost on them rather than accepting some of the financial burden centrally,” said Steve Nash, CEO of the Institute of the Motor Industry. “A scrappage scheme, or some other form of incentive to soften the cost of change, would be fairer and help to accelerate the process.”
This comes after a joint investigation by the Guardian and Greenpeace’s investigations unit revealed hundreds of thousands of children are being exposed to illegal levels of damaging air pollution from diesel vehicles at schools and nurseries across England and Wales.
According to 2016 data from testing industry leader Emissions Analytics (EA), 97% of all modern diesel cars emit more toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution on the road than the official limit.
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Have you always been a diesel car owner? Did you know they produce toxic air pollution when you bought it? Have you changed your mind since buying one? What do you think of proposed policy to reduce diesel cars, and what are your plans for the future?
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