In addition to a classic Mini and a petrol R50 MINI I have a BMW 320D which is great to drive and has superb fuel economy but I hate being stuck in traffic behind any diesel vehicle now breathing in the fumes and as the diesels age and become 'cheap bangers' the pollution seems to get worse.
The AA, said: “Some drivers will feel betrayed and misled because they were encouraged to go for the dash for diesel. In the 1990s there was a near hysteria about carbon dioxide, and yet nobody looked at the bigger picture. The drivers thought they were doing the right thing, but now they are being told that it has serious health implications. They are being made to feel guilty for something that they were encouraged to do.
In 2001, Gordon Brown, the then chancellor, overhauled vehicle excise duty so that cars that emitted a higher level of carbon dioxide faced a higher level of vehicle excise duty.
Labour introduced the new regime despite official warnings that diesel vehicles emit “10 times the fine particles and up to twice the nitrogen dioxide”.
The move prompted a “profound” shift towards diesel cars, which produce lower levels of carbon dioxide because they are about 20 per cent more efficient than petrol engines.
Over the past decade, the number of diesel cars on Britain’s roads has risen from 1.6 million to more than 11 million and accounts for a third of vehicles.
However, diesel vehicles produce high levels of nitrogen dioxide, which can lead to respiratory disease and has been linked to 7,000 deaths a year.
Frank Kelly, the chairman of the Department of Health’s committee on air pollution, said the public were still being misled about the benefits of diesel cars.
He said: “I have full sympathy with the public who have not been provided balanced information on this issue. Even today if you go to buy a new car you are provided with lots of information about its CO2 emissions and nothing in respect to the pollutants it emits. The whole scenario is a very good example of why government policy needs to founded on best science available – not just one aspect, as it was in this case.”
http://www.telegraph...-pollution.html
Edited by mab01uk, 04 February 2017 - 01:03 PM.