Congestion demands answers
As a result of congestion and pollution, driving your car will be very different from what it is now; if our governments have their way. The California, the Dutch and the Australian governments are preparing to change how we pay for the right to drive our cars. As far as the USA goes you know the expression, what goes in California will soon make its way to the East Coast.
On of the arguments is if it is worth having, then it is worth paying for. Especially with respect to the environment. It appears that Dutch drivers are going to be the first in the EU to begin paying according to the kilometers they travel, instead of paying road taxes and sales tax for owning the car. Oh and I can already hear the reactions on this side of the pond, “Why these bandits! Charge us for driving? They want to take away our right to own a car now?” Well no… it’s just one of those things that will change our habits; as now we will learn to pay as we “go”. Will the cost go up or down? That depends on the individual’s driving distances. The more you drive the more you pay, quite simple actually.
This charge is intended to replace car purchase tax and road tax in 2012. It is estimated that the mileage in car travel will drop by 15% since the expected charge on the distance will make people opt quicker for public transportation. the governments there want to cut CO2 emissions and reduce traffic jams. This a wise idea, especially since taxis, buses and motorcycles will be exempt from this charge.
Driving will take on a whole new meaning for Americans.
No longer will you be driving for the fun of it, a past time activity many Americans see if their constitutional right. The ordinary driver will be initially charged three cents, and it will increase to 6.7 cents by year 2018; and there may be rush-hour surcharges! Each car will have GPS installed, recording every journey, sending the information to a billing agency. The philosophy here is that most people will end up paying less since the charge will supposedly not exceed the current taxes. Plus, by the doing away with purchase tax on vehicles, this will supposedly cut 25% off the price of a car’s price. That’s what the Dutch Government says anyway.
So where does the money go? Well the same place it always went. It is intended to put it towards building roads, railways and transportation infrastructure. The Dutch government claims that information sent via GPS will be ‚Äúlegally and technically protected‚Äù and authorities will ‚Äú‚Ķnot be able to access any journey details or track any vehicles‚Ķ‚Äù But that is exactly is what it could very well do, just secretly. The whole point here is this – this is happening in some countries already. (And I haven’t even got to Car Insurance Rates yet!) There is a very good chance it will happen where you live. It sure stands to reason…
In defense of the Dutch I have to add that the entire country is one quarter of the size of Florida and has almost 17 million inhabitants. It is lined with highways that are very well maintained and a hi speed rail road system that has no equal in the world. Public transportation has been developed into an artform and is strongly promoted by government. Dutch people don’t see driving their cars as a constitutional right, pretty much the same as people living and working in metropolitan areas like New York, Paris, London or Tokyo.
So what will this do to the overall expense of driving?
Smart Cars and The cost of Insurance
Car Insurance companies obviously love this idea and think it can’t happen soon enough! It makes commercial sense. They have claimed for a long time that most of those bad things you are insured against (like crashing into other cars) can only happen when you drive, so the less you drive, the less they happen. Yet in a system of equality, people who don NOT drive a lot subsidize those drivers who DO drive a lot. Their argument is that when you pay for how much you drive, and no more, you will pay less. Interesting argument, but does this apply to all insurance – or just comprehensive insurance? So the occasional drivers should benefit, it seems. This method of insurance has finally happened in Australia.
In California, there are plans afoot to bring in laws to charge for Pay As You Drive. California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has approved rules that will let Insurance firms insure drivers there differently, and claims it will save motorists up to 60% of their costs of driving insurance. So will the way that Car Insurance Rates are made be changed due to government interference? Of course. In Texas, a system called MileMeter is being tested, which is the forerunner to the proposed California system. The system will eliminate the whole Joyriding craze, since yet again, all cars will have to have GPS Tracking Systems built in to every car. Again, this raises the hackles for many drivers because the Govt or Insurance firms can technically track your every movement. Is this a good idea, or a case of Big Brother returns?
Here is how people in the Netherlands look at it. A car is not a piece of entertainment to be used when you get bored; it’s a piece of transportation to be used when you needed to take you from A to B. For companies it is a means to do business. So charges for mileage makes sense all the way around the issue. Americans that are getting upset about a GPS installed to monitor driving, destinations and distances, should realize that every American car that’s advertised on TV today, gets a special mention of the ONSTAR system that comes installed, and is sold as a good thing, especially in case of emergencies.
Well here we have the problem of “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”.
For every convenience, safety, security and comfort, you give away a piece of your liberties. The Dutch know that from experience. They don’t attack the initiative or the idea. Instead they make sure that the Government powers cannot abuse it. How? The political system is carved up in many different parties and ideologies and coalition governing is a part of life. They control so to speak the one that has the finger on the button and when that finger starts itching, they vote him/her out. Don’t underestimate the Dutch, they’re very practical.
They know that some form of charging per kilometer is a natural progression to control infra-structural expansion beyond the Carrying Capacity of a society.
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