Tuesday, January 29, 2013

What are we paying road tax for?

Day two and I'm moaning; cue jaw dropping and shocked faces... 

Today I handed over £74 to legally keep, my pretty poor excuse for a car, on the road for the next six months. I did consider the Del Boy approach, the 'it's in the post' note, but thought I'd better be safe than sorry. Now this payment wouldn't have been so bad if:

1. It was enough for the entire year, and, 
2. I understood and felt confident as to where this money was going.

I concluded it must be to maintain the roads and thought 'hey, it's to be expected, you pay for the privilege of using these roads and surely this will make the roads nice and smooth to drive on...' but upon swerving no less than four treacherous pot holes within the three and half miles back to my house, I was a little peeved to say the least. If that isn't enough, in the last year I've replaced three tyres and also had to get an entire new wheel due to massive craters in the roads. 

Now I know everyone's in the same boat, and they can't just abandon the law, but it really does beg the question: what are we honestly paying over £100 a year for?