You know it won't make any difference, so signing it simply isn't going to have any negative effects.

What it will do is help highlight the hypocrisy of a government (state) that claims it encourages debate and listens to its citizens. The more this is exposed, the more hollow the exhortations to effect change "through the democratic process" will become.

YOU say he should only have one car, be charged to travel freely and monitored wherever he goes, and YOU complain about MI5, thank goodness you're not in charge.

I signed the petition - not because I want to encourage the slow petroleum soaked slaughter of the planet, but because I find it intolerable that the gov even considers encroaching even further on our shredded civil liberties by installing gizmos in cars, the sole function of which is geo-location and monitoring tagged directly to the legal owner of the car. This is simply function-creep and on these grounds alone should be protested!

Whilst the climate change campaigning has been pretty poor at recognising the deeply authoritarian nature of demands that call for road pricing which will go hand-in-hand with extensive tracking of individuaIs, I would also be careful who you are supporting by signing something like this. The initiator of this petition, Peter Roberts, appears to be a member of a dubious road lobbying organisation called Association of British Drivers  http://www.abd.org.uk/ which also seems to be in the full blown global warming denier
camp as well as campaigning against bus lanes etc.

Although it has to be said they sound like moderates after hearing a crazed 'Motorists Against Detection' spokesperson respond to the recent letter b0mbs - ABD's armed wing perhaps?

Private car traffic throughout Europe is the cause of a number of serious problems. There is the local and global pollution; problems with congestion and accidents. All of these problems are the external costs of motoring and they vary enormously depending on where and when the journey is made. At the moment these costs are in part covered by the tax on fuel. This works fairly in covering the carbon emissions but does nothing for congestion or local pollution. Why should someone who waits for the rush hour to finish before driving pay the same per mile as someone who knowingly adds to the chaos? Road pricing is the only fair way to resolve this inequality.

One advantage of the road pricing system is that, at last, speeding drivers can be controlled. This has two distinct advantages, firstly the obvious improvement in road safety but also the indirect effect on the motor industry. Owning a car that can exceed the highest speed limit by the double becomes a bit daft is you are going to lose your licence as soon as you try it out. Hopefully we will start to see lighter cars with engine tuned to fuel economy rather than speed.

What this is about is discouraging people from driving, many people associate movement with sitting in a car. If big brother knows where my car is he knows where I am. This is not true. My car parked in my drive does not mean that I’m at home. Anyone who wants to remain anonymous can walk to the bus stop.

What strikes me about the amount of public opinion on road pricing is that few seem to seem any viable alternative to driving. This is mainly due to the luckless state of the public transport system. One of the best ways to effectively reduce the amount of cars on the road is to provide a cheaper, safer, more comfortable and a more reliable alternative to driving. When will we see two million names on a petition for a reasonable standard of public transport? If anything is scandalous it’s the state of the trains and busses!

Why can't we have a similar transport network (roads and public transport) that our major competitors have such as France and Germany and why should poor people be forced out of their cars. Try Paris compared to London, lots of motorways and good public transport and yet quality of life is often considered better than London.

Rather than penalising hard working motorists the government should encourage those too lazy to insulate their loft, who turn up their heating, leave their TVs on all day or don't recycle their bottles of stout to combat global warming.

In reply to the last comment - Peter Robert's ABD as mentioned above organisation campaigns against public transport.

Road pricing is not the way. Our culture and our attitude need a radical overhall, While the Goverment sit on their thoughts of how to use congestion and climate change issues to exstract more money from the public to blow on their covert agendas, we the public must govern ourselves through a mutual understanding of the situations at hand.
We cannot rely on our government any more, they have betrayed us in every aspect.
we must take direct action collectivley.
Our culture needs to go back to localisation in terms of local people creating bussiness in producing services and manufacturing resources )in their own towns for thier own people.
The land is the key, too much valuable land is going to waste green belt has gone to the horsey townies, farms have turned into scrapyards and motocross courses, Wealth and Status has become a false security and a damaging aspect of modern life.

We Need The Land
We Can generate everything we need in this country from Flour to fuel.


If you live in london work in London
If you live in Leeds work in Leeds
If you live in Birmingham Work in Birmingham
If you live in Bradford Work in Bradford
If you live in Carmarthen work in Carmarthen
If you live in Aberdeen work in Aberdeen

Instead of flying up and down the motorways every day looking for that extra silver.
PROVIDENCE AND CREATIVITY IS THE KEY


This will cut clobal warming and congestion.

Do not wait for our ignourent goverment to solve the problems THEY ARE GOING TO MAKE IT WORSE

LET GO AND TAKE ACTION BECAUSE IF WE DON'T TAKE ACTION NOW WE WILL PAY IN FULL LATER ON.

I have watched this so-called open petition for the last 30 minutes, reloading the page every 30 seconds.
During that time the total has stayed at 1,599,048 signatures.
Also during that time, the new names at the bottom of the list have moved upwards and eventually disappeared.

WHY IS THE TOTAL NOT BEING UPDATED ???????

In reply to some other comments about 'public' transport, there is nothing public about it. It is ALL run by private, profit making companies who get millions in subsidies from the taxpayer.

Somebody had a go at the ABD, saying they are anti public transport. Well I've got news for you - the lobby group Transport 2000 is all for road pricing and have appeared on TV supporting it. Transport 2000 is 'funded' (i.e bribed) by many major bus, train and rail operating companies.
They are also 'funded' by SERCO, a company which sells and operates speed cameras and tracking/monitoring systems. Guess who stands to make £millions when road pricing forces people out of cars - the same private, profit making companies who are supporting it.

I am 50 - I am female - I am disabled and ....guess what I still work! I don't claim any benefits or allowances because as far as I am concerned I can still contribute and pay my taxes - ALL of them......... - I say I CAN .... but it looks that is about to become a big fat WAS able to contribute...........

OK so you are going to tell me to work closer to home .... Yes right .... why don't you try shuffling 200 yds in my shoes... why should you be worried........

Me ... well I am registered disabled .......oooops - sorry - Are YOU going to give me a job?? No didn't think so..... Yes of course you are eco friendly - non age discriminatory (You have read the booklet) Or OK you are pink and fluffy and nice and you just LOVE disabled people - (shame about the stairs isn't it - she would have been great!)

Oh sorry I just wasn't suitable for your job.... Oh you can prove it ... Course you can - you don't want to get sued do you..... Your human resources dept is oustandingly beyond reproach (and of course law suits!!!)

So while you are all being Oh So Politically correct - I just try and live - and work and survive!

I live in the Midlands - but My Head Office is 150 miles away from home and takes at LEAST 3 hrs ++++ to get there - and yet I cannot even claim personal business milage allowance when I go there because that is against Inland Revenue rules - (home to office - no matter how far away yr office is!!!) So it is OK for me to work 9 - 12 ish hrs AND drive for 6 hrs/300 miles for which I have to pay out of my OWN salary .... NOW I will have to pay a mega tax to get there STILL at my OWN expense .... 150 miles each way at say £1 mile = £300 a day x 5 days = £1500 = £6000 a month

I DO NOT take home £6000 a month after tax.... I don't even have 1 DAYS worth new road taxes left - £300 - each month - after income tax and mortgage/poll tax/electricity/insurance/gas/phone/car lease/petrol/insurance/road fund licence/tv licence etc - oh and the odd bit of food.....

So can someone tell me what disability benefits I will get instead for staying at home as I will lose my job - why - well it doesn't take a brain surgeon or accountant to work out that in a couple of month's after this charge starts I will be bankrupt.... This is not a joke - THIS is the reality that working people or try to work people are facing - It will be horrendous if you are normal and to be honest in my disabled situation - it will be the final nail in my coffin.....

Couple of choices - work and lose my home - not work and lose my home or just early retirement.... permanent early retirement.... forever -

Cheapest/easiest option suicide - then I would no longer be a problem.....to anyone....

trouble is there may be some value in what you say but for most people they switch off when you get away from facts and into personal attacks. “What you are speaks so loud I can’t hear what you are saying”

Road charging is unacceptable for the following reasons

1. It is going to cost a fortune in bureaucracy to set up and administer.

2. The government and anyone it cares to authorise can know exactly where you are every minute you are driving. Civil liberties? Forget it.
The Government aare trying to assure us that they can set up a system which does not allow surveillance of this kind but, as they have to monitor exactly where we are at all time in order to bill us, I think we can take these assurances witrh a pinch of salt.

3. With the Government's record on computers are you prepared to trust them to get the bills right?. If not, monitoring your own mileage where and when in enormous detail will be a nightmare.

4. The prohibitive cost of the black box (£600?) is just another tax on the motorist.

5. I suspect most of the money made will go to pay for the EU Galileo satellite, not on public transport as the Government assures us. Indeed, the whole arrangement seems suspiciously like an EU idea in the first place with their enthusiasm for interfering in evey aspect of our lives.

Much simpler to increase the cost of petrol substantially. Instant savingsand simplicity, compared with the complex charging scheme.

I dont drive dont like cars much , but have to use trasport for work etc
I voted for this as "The idea of tracking every vehicle at all times is sinister and wrong. "
non criminal taggin is just wrong! so If you want to be tagged and be missrable and moan adout how hard done to you are by the state move to north wales or easterhouse (glasgow)
- where I left.. and moan all you like ..

Roberts is a British hero who has finally persuaded the British people to wake up and make a stand against all the nonsense that pervades our society. It won't be long now before the likes of the article author are treated by government, press and public alike with the contempt they deserve.

I notice that you are yet another person to attack the comments of Mr Roberts...
May i add that you live in a house, that has electricity...you probably have a huge factor of your property and contents that is made from wood - from trees!!
You probably have Gas or oil central heating...more fuels that are extracted from our beloved earth...
But hang on...i'm sure you are wearing clothes and your shoes and bike tyres are probable made of rubber...
My point is...it's easy to attack cars but when you look you home and possession you realize you play a major part in killing the planet also...
If you actually spent the time to read Peter's survey you will find that 80-90% of people are only against the tracking device which invades peoples privacy...i know you would probably say something along the lines of "i have nothing to hide", but i bet you close your curtains at night so people can't look in...need i see more!!
Motorist have said that they are happy to pay higher petrol prices providing the government could prove that they are spending it on a more sustainable and greener form of fuel...or even improving the transport system....but no instead they are using the tax raised by motorist to fund other poorly thought out policies...

Thanks