Big changes to Cyprus’ motoring taxes will see a big loss for the country’s treasury. Annual road tax will switch from being based on engine capacity to emissions. The cut off is 100g CO2 per km. Anything above 256g will be a flat €1,300 per year. The lowest band will be £20 per year. New vehicle owners will also pay a €150 registration fee. The new system brings motoring taxes into line with EU law. More measures are expected later.
Author Archives: driveeuropenews
UK Road User Charging consultation
It’s not The Big One – yet – but the Department for Transport has just announced a consultation on ‘the fair and effective enforcement of road user charging schemes’. Eeeek.
How Putin’s snazzy new motor will solve Moscow’s traffic jams, sort of
Russian president Vladimir Putin has decided to work from home more often, not because he’s suffering from a serious illness but to help solve Moscow’s ‘paralytic, bumper-to-bumper, round-the-clock, city-wide traffic congestion’. It’s caused, in part, by the presidential motorcade and its infamous dedicated ‘Zil lanes’.
Putin has also reportedly revived a 2010 re-design of the iconic Zil limousine, notable not just for its futuristic lines but also for its lack of a rear window.
The Long Distance debate
Great article from Frommers on the impulse to get there as quickly as possible/ at all costs. For more on Long Distance Driving click here.
Continental Correspondent – Oct 2012
For all October’s news see Continental Correspondent, our monthly digest magazine. This month we also have features on north east Bosnia, Bratislava in Slovakia and Maastricht in the Netherlands and – naturally – much, much more
New drink drive limit for Scotland, probably
If the Scottish parliament gets its way the drink drive limit in Scotland will be reduced from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml of blood. A motion supporting the government’s ongoing consultation, set to finish at the end of the month, was passed 100:12 today. Apparently 10% of road deaths involve a driver over the current limit. Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has also written to the UK DfT to ask for further powers to be devolved, including on demand breath testing and new rules for young drivers. The recent Scotland Act only allows the Scottish government to change the limit itself. It will require new legislation to implement.
A rare EU rule going down well: the new tyre performance label
The new label sees tyres rated for safety, fuel efficiency and ‘emissions’, specifically rolling resistance, wet braking performance and noise. It uses a simple ‘traffic light’ label similar to the one already used on fridges and cookers, etc.
Fuel efficiency varies by 7.5% across the range and braking performance by 30%. It also makes it easier to replicate the (specifically designed) tyres originally fitted to cars.
It is law in the EU as of today (1 Nov 2012) and has been welcomed by the UK Society of Motor Traders and Manufacturers (SMMT). The current label is only the first step says Michelin. Longevity, handling and dry braking could all be included in the future.
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