UK Government Petition to lower fuel prices

[Andrew Robinson]

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 8:58 AM, Chris Strellis <Chris at crystalvision.tv> wrote:
> Just because your two comparisons are in the same units doesn't automatically mean that you can *directly* compare them.
>
> For the train - you don't pay for yearly insurance (£300 a year at least), MOT (£50), Servicing (£200), Road Tax (£185), cost of car (£200 a month for most people) or a large wedge of cash up front.

I agree in principle, but my actual figures are a bit different, my
insurance renewal was yesterday at £226 (and should drop drastically
when I move out of London), and my road tax is £90 because my 0.7l car
counts as fairly 'green'. Servicing is £315 though, but I'll try and
restrain myself from another well deserved rant about Mercedes/Smart
dealers being shit...

> Remember it should be public transport always, or car always, not both.  It will always be more expensive if you use both!

Yes, and that's the reason that taxes on fuel are fake green taxes,
there's no way that it's ever going to make financial sense to get rid
of cars that people have already bought.

The government care far more about tax revenue than CO2, they would be
mortified if people did actually switch to public transport, as their
revenue would drop, so they have carefully put all their taxes on
people who are unlikely to switch. These fake green taxes actually are
huge financial incentive for them NOT to sort out public transport!

> I don't understand the people who spring £20k on a new car just to get an economical diesel - to *save* money! It's more financially economical to get a £5k 3 litre V6 that does 25mpg over the remainder of its life than a frugal brand new 70mpg car.
>
> It certainly doesn't save the planet - the energy required to make a new car is phenomenal - let alone the pillaging of resources.

That's almost psychic! My old Ford Granada was a 3 litre V6 that did
25mpg, and I paid £4995 for it! Eventually the repair and petrol costs
got too much though, and I switched to my first Smart.

- Andy_R