Tuesday 01 November 2011 | By Susan Brooks
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The low emission zone was first introduced in 2008 as a way of encouraging the most heavy polluting diesel vehicles driving in the capital to become cleaner. To drive within the LEZ without paying a charge your vehicle must meet certain emission standards that limit the amount of particulate matter coming from the exhaust. Particulate matter is a type of pollution that can contribute to asthma, heart and lung disease and other respiratory illnesses. According to the Mayor of London’s Air Quality Strategy published in December 2010 the main aim of the LEZ is to reduce traffic pollution, which in turn will improve health and the quality of life of everyone living or visiting London.
All roads in Greater London, around Heathrow and parts of the M1 and M4 are included. It operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year including weekends and bank holidays. There is no escaping it, as there are cameras everywhere that take a photograph of your number plate and check it against records held by the DVLA. It really is not worth taking a chance as the fines is very steep, ranging from £500 to £1000.
In January 2012, the current emission standards are changing and more vehicles are going to start to be affected. Larger vans and minibuses will need to meet the Euro 3 emissions standards and larger Lorries and buses will need to meet the Euro1V. How do you know if your vehicle falls into which category? The age and weight of a vehicle indicates the level of particulate matter it produces. As a general rule any vehicle registered before 1st October 2001 will not meet the current standards for Euro 3 and vehicles registered before 1st October 2006 will not meet the standards for Euro 1V. The easiest way of checking whether your vehicle is compliant or not is to go to Transport for London (TFL) website and enter your vehicle registration number on the vehicle checker.
What are your options if your vehicle is not compliant? The cheapest way around is to find an approved filter which could reduce the emissions enough to meet the LEZ standards. The vehicle would then have to be registered with transport for London as meeting the necessary standards. If this fails, this is when it could get expensive. The other options are replace the vehicle with a new model than does meet the emission standards. There are several vehicle manufacturers Citroen, DAF, Ford, Mercedes Benz just to name a few who are all doing special deals to supply LEZ compliant vehicles.
The advice that TFL are giving is act now! January 2012 is really not that far away and failing to act quickly could have a serious impact on your business.