I've just received this email, am I right in thinking it's a hoax?

Subject: Road Tax... If you drive a car...read on.................!

Apparently there is only one month left to register your objection to the government's 'Pay as you Go' road tax.

This Petition is on the 10 Downing St website ( petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/) but they didn't tell anybody about it! Therefore only 250,000 people have signed it so far -- and 750,000 signatures are required to stop them introducing it.

Once you've given your details (you don't have to give your full address,
just house number and postcode will do), they will send you an email with a
link in it. Once you click on that link, you'll have signed the petition.

Democracy in action? Read on, and see what will happen if this Petition fails !!

The government's proposal to introduce road pricing will mean you having to purchase a tracking device for your car and paying a monthly bill to use it. The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. A non working mother who uses her car to take the kids to school will pay an estimated £86 in one month !! Read more

I have just received this info from a supplier of detection devices. Can't vouch for the accuracy or truth of it.

New "undercover" Speed Cameras which were introduced a few weeks ago on the A12 are going 'live' on Monday!

We have had a tip-off from the BTST Locator update team that small 'specs' cameras have been sited both north and south of the Blackwall tunnel on the A12 in London.

The cameras have been sited in a deliberate speeding hotspot (because the limit reduces to 30 very suddenly without any advance warning) and the fine has been raised from the usual £60, to £100 per offence.

But here is the really unusual thing...

They have NOT installed signs warning drivers of this speed trap.

Why?

Because they are NOT be going to be hitting drivers with a licence endorsement as you would usually expect...

... They are just going to take our hard-earned cash instead!

This is just the latest case of blatant profiteering from the countries "safety camera" partnerships.

Our information tells us that these new cameras are going 'live' from Monday (12th February).

The speed limit for the tunnel is 30 mph northbound and 40 mph southbound.

Read more

The UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have just reported their latest results. Human activity (and in particular, fossil fuel use) is now “very likely” to blame for increasing temperatures, melting glaciers and icecaps and rising sea levels. The blame level has gone up from “likely” 6 years ago. The current level of certainty is now 90% .

Looking at views expressed in this forum, what worries me is how few of us take this seriously. The attitude is often – “I don’t care” and in terms of fossil fuel use, “I can afford it, so why shouldn’t I use it?”. There is also derision about environmental muppets and tree huggers… I will declare my interest here – I am an environmental scientist by training and am also a motorist and motorcyclist.

Why do we doubt the findings of 2500 experts from 103 countries who only publish what there is agreement about? If they don’t agree on a topic, they don’t publish it, and as a result, the report is a “conservative” view of how bad things may get. As time passes, scientific knowledge and understanding of climate, oceanic circulations, the carbon balance etc is increasing and the latest prediction models incorporate this new understanding and have improved enormously. There is yet more to learn though. We might have hoped that other explanations would have been found, to “let us off the hook”. What is really alarming is that no such “let off” has been found and the predictions are more dire than in the previous report.

All sectors will have to bear cuts – but how do you cut down on agricultural energy use when there is an increasing world population to feed? For the UK, I think that a significant reduction in fuel use is essential for 3 reasons
1) to do our bit to slow down global warming – we have had our bite at the resource and need to set an example to the developing world
2) our balance of trade – we will be importing an ever increasing proportion of our energy requirements
3) energy security. Not good to rely on other countries for basics

In addition we need to change our approach to fossil fuel use from the “I can afford it, so why can’t I use it? (waste it?) approach to one of “personal responsibility” for conserving the limited resource, the excess use of which is damaging climate. The irony is that the wealthier we are, the more we can do to help!

Read more

I have just seen an advert for Skoda in today's E-papers

Their advert just read

Skoda - manufacturer of happy motorists

Maybe they are getting cleverer at the adverts or just use the same AD Agency as VW parent who always manage good adverts - some very memorable even after 20-30 years
Read more

I haven't read of any new Jag two door model due in the new future, the XK having made its bow, but out this morning on the Fosse Way near Halford I'm sure I saw a disguised Jag belting along the other way. Automatic gearbox and distinctive V8 working overtime, strong winter sunlight picked out enough of the radiator grille mesh through the black ducktape and fabric to say "Jag". Of course manufacturers have fun using each other's design cues, but the badge was round too. The bonnet line also looked "XKesque", and it was only the rear of the car that had "disruption packaging" to completely fool casual observers.

Made a change from the usual disguised Rangies and Freelanders that frequent this stretch of road. Read more