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RAC reacts to Government's air quality consultation
RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: “We have been saying that central Government needs to take a lead on helping local authorities manage air quality issues caused by oxides of nitrogen that can be harmful to health.
“This Government’s air quality consultation addresses many of our main concerns around demonising diesel cars as it recognises the contributions of all sources of nitrogen dioxide, not just cars which generally contribute less than buses and lorries.
“It also takes a tiered approach and targets only those areas where existing measures will not deliver the required improvements. Very positively, it proposes a framework for clean air zones to ensure a consistency of approach, thereby discouraging ill-informed knee-jerk reactions such as that of Islington Council with its £96 annual surcharge for residents with diesel vehicles.
“If implemented sensibly the proposals will make a valuable difference to local air quality but the big question is whether central government will be able to require local authorities to stick to the framework?”
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The RAC provides complete peace of mind to 12m UK private and business drivers, whatever their motoring needs. Its services include:
- Breakdown assistance. Its highly-skilled, 1,600-strong branded patrol workforce attends more than two million breakdowns every year, fixing on average four out of five vehicles at the roadside. The RAC’s patrol fleet is one of the most advanced in the UK, and was the first to roll out both an All-Wheels-Up recovery system, allowing the vast majority of vehicles to be recovered from a single patrol van, and EV Boost mobile electric vehicle charging units
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The RAC also works to support the interests of its members and UK drivers on the most important motoring issues which it identifies via the annual RAC Report on Motoring and the RAC Opinion Panel. The Report on Motoring is the longest running analysis of driver opinion in the UK having been published every year since 1989.
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