Dirty Polluting Lorry ... £200 Please

Each year in London, approximately 1000 people die prematurely as a result of poor air quality. From today any vehicle in excess of 12t entering the Low Emissions Zone, covering 610sq miles, which is not certified as meeting EU exhaust limits will be required to pay a £200 fee. Failure to make payment will result in a fine of £1000.

By July the scheme will be extended to include coaches and buses, and by 2010 will include some vans and lorries (trucks).

The LEZ is in operation 24 hours a day, unlike the Congestion Charge which operates from 0700 to 1800 each day. According to TfL, traffic in the original central congestion charge zone fell 20% since the scheme began in 2003, expexted a further fall of 15% when it expanded the zone size and increased the fee in 2007.

All lorries made after October 2001 automatically comply with the EU standards of particulate emissions of 0.05g per km. Older vehicles can be adapted to comply with the rules.

TfL has identified 120,000 lorries of over 12 tonnes inside the zone during the previous six months of monitoring and estimates that approximately 10% do not meet EU standards.

"Despite significant improvements in recent years, London's air pollution is the worst of any city in the UK and among the worst in Europe. The LEZ aims to reduce traffic pollution by deterring the most individually polluting diesel-engine lorries, buses, coaches, minibuses and large vans from driving within our city."
Nick Fairholme, Operations Management, Low Emissions Zone (London)

A further 70 LEZ are planned or currenly implemented across the EU. This new legislation will not only serve to improve air quality with non compliance vehicles being forced with a retrofit, it may also ensure commercial vehicles are replaced with newer, more efficient vehicles. With the inclusion of small lorries / vans in 2010 could see more companies switching to alternative commercial vehicles like the Modec, which is exempt from LEZ, Congestion Charge, parking fees and also offers free charging at some points in London. These measures should also reduce CO2 emissions in the areas they are trialled.

Separately this weekend, the ex-chairman of oil giant Shell, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart told BBC News that EU should ban the sale of cars that do under 35 miles to the gallon.

"We need very tough regulation saying that you can't drive or build something less than a certain standard. You would be allowed to drive an Aston Martin - but only if it did 50-60mpg. When we eliminated coal fires in London we didn't say to people in Chelsea you can pay a bit more and toast your crumpets in front of an open fire - we said nobody, but nobody, could have an open fire."

Read more from Sir Mark Moody-Stuart at the BBC Green Room.


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