Glasgow City Council has released data showing that a significant number of fixed penalty notices were issued in June to drivers who contravened Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) regulations by driving non-compliant vehicles.
The LEZ was introduced at the beginning of June to tackle air pollution in the city centre and covers an area stretching from the M8 motorway in the north and west to the River Clyde in the south and Saltmarket/High Street in the east.
The first phase of the scheme, targeting buses, was rolled out in December 2018, followed by the inclusion of all vehicles in the second phase from 1 June this year.
During the first month of enforcement, a familiarisation period was observed, resulting in drivers only receiving a single fine in June.
However, from this month, a surcharge system has been introduced which will see fines double for each subsequent LEZ offence. The surcharge comes into effect after the registered keeper of the vehicle has received the first fixed penalty notice.
Glasgow City Council has emphasised that the LEZ is a long-term measure to address the historic problem of air pollution in the city centre. Extensive communication and engagement efforts have been undertaken to raise awareness of the scheme, its implementation timetable and the availability of funding to support compliance. While the LEZ will have little to no impact on up to 90% of vehicles entering the city centre, it will primarily target the most polluting vehicles that contribute disproportionately to harmful air pollution concentrations.
To comply with the LEZ standards, diesel vehicles registered after September 2015 and petrol vehicles registered from 2006 will generally meet the required criteria. Vehicle owners can check their compliance using the online vehicle registration checker at https://www.lowemissionzones.scot/vehicle-registration-checker.
Image by Pirkko Seitsenpiste from Pixabay