Disc Breaks

or should I call it "Tax Brakes"?

No, this story is about tax discs not disc brakes.

I'm not sure why George Osborne announced that he was scrapping the Tax Disc this afternoon.

Because everyone knew that it was happening this morning - along with the rest of his Autumn Statement.  The BBC had it here.  Autocar had it here.

They used this picture.  That registration number belongs to a Range-Rover.  I wonder if it was just parked outside their offices or it belongs to a member of staff there - it isn't the one that comes up if you look for a review of a Range-Rover on their site.

The BBC have also used this as an excuse to bring back their occasional (and amusing) RIP item with "R.I.P. Car Tax Disc".  These sometimes prompt amusing tributes from the readership - I await these in mild anticipation.

What the scrapping of the discs doesn't mean, though, is the scrapping of the tax.  That will continue to be collected and the Police will have access to the databases which tell them who has actually paid - although your average traffic warden or nosey neighbour won't be able to easily tell.

The tax itself is "vehicle excise duty" not "road tax".  I make this point because this comes up every time anyone mentions tax discs - it comes up a lot in the comments at the end of the main BBC article.  Cyclists generally make this point a lot.

I am an occasional cyclist myself but very much take the Jeremy Clarkson point-of-view on this:

Flasher Caught by Police and Found Guilty

I saw this story yesterday and considered commenting on it but only thought of a good title for the post this evening.

The story centres around Grimsby man Michael Thompson, 64 - don't know why his age is relevant. He saw a Police Speed Trap and did something that I, myself, often do when I see one - flashed the headlights to warn cars approaching from the other direction. I guess he must have been spotted by another officer who pulled him over, had a heated debate, and charged him with "wilfully obstructing a police officer in the course of her duties".

He was fined £175 and ordered to pay £250 costs. He was also ordered to pay a £15 "victim surcharge" whatever that is - I don't see any other victims here unless the policewoman operating the speed trap didn't achieve her capture bonus.

I'd have thought that the Police would have been in favour of preventing law-breaking - this is what he was doing by slowing down speeding traffic. Anyone not speeding wouldn't be affected and anyone who didn't spot him would deserve to be caught because they weren't being very observant in their driving.

Anyway, according to the Highway Code, flashing your headlights means "I am Here" - so he wasn't warning anyone about anything, he was merely advertising his presence.

Quentin Willson added his two cents today thus.



Mr.Thompson is appealing - which isn't a word I'd use to describe the arresting officer.

Drink-Driving Caused This...

If the 23 year-old owner of this Mitsubishi Evo (for that is what this yellow car iswas) had known what was going to happen - I'm sure he'd have stuck to the lemonade (assuming he actually is guilty - he's only "suspected" at the moment)

The only problem is - it wasn't him who did this - it was the police officers who arrested him. In such cases, they are supposed to organise a recovery vehicle to come and remove the vehicle of an alleged offender. In this case, they decided to take it for a spin themselves - literally. Oops.

The full story is on BBC News here. Greater Manchester Police have said they will pay for the damage caused to the properties but what about the car? It wouldn't be insured because it was being driven unlawfully and without permission. Will anyone be able to sue anyone? Will that bloke who played a dodgy copper in The Bill and now claims to be an injury lawyer get involved?