MPs Call for Incentives to Design Green and Safe Cars
November 10, 2004 | Levent OZLER
THE UK is being urged by MPs to bring-in new rules to encourage motorists to buy more environmentally friendly cars.
The Transport Select Committee's report, published yesterday, also says car makers should be given incentives to develop low emission fuel-cell cars and design vehicles that reduce the potential for car crime and casualties before they occur.
Sophisticated new technologies have a cost penalty and are unlikely to appear on the market unless there is a regulatory requirement or consumer demand, says the report.
It recommends that the UK should support the use of regulation to encourage cleaner and safer vehicle design.
According to the report, the government should provide more grants to help people buy the cleanest cars available. It also suggests motoring taxes must be raised for motorists who buy vehicles with high emissions.
The government must ensure that manufacturers are encouraged to introduce cleaner technologies and safety systems in cars, which consumers are then encouraged to buy, Committee chairman, Gwyneth Dunwoody, also said: "The U.K. must not miss the opportunity to have cars on our roads within the next decade that prevent someone driving if they are drunk, uninsured or untaxed."
SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan said 'The Cars of the Future report' recognises the 'great
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