Support has been gathering for a petition for government road pricing plans to be scrapped, with some 165,000 people having signed up to support the cause.
The protest was submitted by Peter Roberts, an account manager from Telford, through the government’s new e-petition facility, the Telegraph reports.
It takes issue with government plans to introduce a pricing system whereby motorists are tracked by satellite technology and charged on the basis of how far they drive, in what locations and at what time.
The proposals, which could see drivers paying £1.34 to drive just one mile in a busy area at rush hour, are intended to combat the growing problem of congestion in the UK.
Debate over rights of privacy and concerns over the nanny state have emerged around the matter, with Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, telling the Telegraph that this issue could snowball into a major dispute.
“Road user charging may trigger the biggest campaign for rights and freedoms in recent history,” he said. “This ill-considered scheme goes to the heart of increasing anxiety over government control over law-abiding people.”
The petition will be available on the Ten Downing Street website until February 20th, by which time it could have collected over 500,000 signatures.
