[jambutty]

A report in the news today suggests that there are over TWO MIILION vehicles on our roads today that do not have a current tax disc on display. This is an actual INCREASE on last year.

But hang on, what were all those adverts about on how the DVLA can tell which car is or is not taxed and the registered keeper of an untaxed car would be brought to heel and even the car crushed? It seems to me that it was just an almighty bluff in the hope that those people without a tax disk for their car would rush off and get one. Some may have done but most, it seems, have not and have been joined by others. Another costly and wasted effort on the part of a government that is increasingly becoming a laughing stock.

You don’t need a university education or an ology in finance or physics to realise that before a vehicle can turn a wheel just one revolution it will need fuel.

The simple and most obvious solution, and it is not just mine alone, is to scrap the tax disk altogether and save masses of money on its administration and increase the price of the fuel. Not only will this solve the untaxed car problem at a stroke it will also spread the load fairly between those who travel thousands of miles per year and those who can barely muster a couple of thousand miles. By their very nature gas-guzzlers will pay more to travel the highways and byways than the small economical car. Use the roads more – pay more. Pollute more – pay more. Is that too simple for the cretins in Parliament to understand?

I can hear counter arguments already and no doubt ‘insurance’ and MOT will be thrown into the debate. Problems are not for ignoring but for solving and the insurance question can also be solved by increasing the price of fuel. Thus every time that you buy some fuel for your car your car is automatically covered for third party insurance. If you want better cover for your brand new car then go and buy some extra cover. It’s not rocket science but simple common dog.

What about the MOT – you can’t tax your car if it doesn’t have an MOT, although this only applies to cars over three years old. There are plenty of garages who will pass a borderline or even rogue car and in any case the MOT’s value is worthless the minute you drive away from the garage. It may be valid for one year but it’s true validity is that on a specific day, at a specific time the tested vehicle was deemed to be within the law for taking that vehicle on the public highway. Quite frankly the MOT certificate isn’t worth the paper that it is printed on. But as well as receiving an MOT certificate, a disk would also be issued and it would have to be displayed as the current tax disk is displayed.

Of course there will always be someone who will forge an MOT disk but think on this. Would you rather have your car damaged by a vehicle that does not have an MOT or one without insurance? If third party insurance was included in the cost of fuel you could make a claim.