According to a report by the Guardian, thousands of foreigners in London have been fined for violating emissions regulations. In individual cases, more than 20,000 pounds (more than 22,000 euros) in fines would have accumulated.
The tickets were usually not issued because of actual violations, but rather because of the ignorance of those affected, the newspaper writes in its Saturday edition.
The background is a regulation by the London transport authority “Transport for London” (TfL). According to this, vehicles may only enter certain zones of London if they meet certain emission requirements. Foreign motorists must register their vehicles before entering the relevant areas.
If you don’t do this, your vehicle will automatically be treated like a vehicle with high diesel emissions, for example, and you will have to pay a correspondingly high fine. This is true even though the vast majority of vehicles comply with the standard.
According to TfL itself, practically all cars built after 2005 basically meet the requirements. Nevertheless, from January to September last year alone, 18,962 fine notices were sent to the owners of vehicles registered abroad.
In addition, according to the “Guardian”, the postal service abroad prevents those affected from being able to claim a discount for quick payment – so in many cases double the amount is due. A service provider for TfL managed to get driver data from Germany, the Netherlands and France. Accordingly, fine notices were sent retrospectively.
The scheme is part of London’s city fathers’ decades-long fight against the city’s blatant air pollution. Due to emissions from taxis and double-decker buses, among other things, the sulfur dioxide concentrations in parts of the city center, such as the popular shopping street Oxford Street, are extremely high.
About a decade ago, Oxford Street was considered one of the most polluted streets in the world in terms of sulfur dioxide levels.
In the meantime, a whole bundle of measures has been taken to reduce emissions and pollution. Among other things, TfL offers drivers a free ticket for buses and trains for up to two years if they scrap their vehicle. (dpa)
