I am the not very proud owner of a vintage car. It is a ridiculous hobby, I am aware of that. Not only do vintage cars use a lot of fossil fuel, you have to add a toxic lead substitute to that fuel to keep the car running. But they are so much nicer and they drive so much nicer than modern cars, they sound better and they smell so good. I console myself with these thoughts: I only drive about a thousand kilometers a year, I live in a small town and do all my trips on foot, I use public transport to get to work, I rarely fly, I don’t eat meat and I only wash my hair with shampoo twice a week.
Still, it’s a problem. In the past, your freedom of movement with a vintage car was limited. You were only allowed to drive from sunrise to sunset within a radius of 25 kilometers around your place of residence, unless you could prove that you were driving to a classic car event. No one followed those rules, but they were there. At the same time, you were spared financially: you paid little or no road tax and little insurance.
In 2013, those rules were thrown overboard. You were suddenly allowed to drive your classic car anywhere and everywhere, except for commuting and commercial use. Under the same financial conditions. Wonderful times for classic car enthusiasts. And for fraudsters, because suddenly you saw smelly old diesel Mercedes with old-timer license plates everywhere. Love? Not at all: abuse. The age limit for vintage cars was then raised from 25 to 30 years, but that did not help.
Fortunately, low-emission zones were introduced in Ghent and Antwerp, which at least prevented vintage cars from polluting the centers of those clean cities. Pretty annoying for a classic car owner who, like me, lives in a LEZ. I can’t drive the thing to my home, I have to rent a garage outside the center, but all understanding: these are first world problems and all, the planet has to be saved. Anyone who wants to collect with their classic car club on the Ghent Friday Market or the Antwerp Grote Markt can apply for a day permit to drive in the LEZ twelve times a year. Cost: 35 euros per car per day. Everyone satisfied. You would think. But no.
Much lobbying later, Flemish Minister for the Environment and Wat Nog Allemaal Zuhal Demir (N-VA) decided that there will be an exception rule for vintage cars in the LEZ zones of Ghent and Antwerp. The city authorities will soon be able to grant every classic car owner a free exceptional measure, so that they can drive through the LEZ unhindered. Allow me to find that shocking. To begin with, a vintage car is not intended to drive around the city, but to pollute the air in the countryside. The measure once again opens the door to massive fraud. Anyone who lives within the Antwerp or Ghent LEZ and is no longer allowed to enter with their older, polluting car, now simply buys an even older and even more polluting car and registers it as a vintage car.
Start coughing up particulate matter.
In Flame! an editor responds to a news event that does not leave him indifferent.
