New Number Plates Hurdle

Along with the mass enthusiasm over the Olympics in Beijing (Great Britain are third in the table, yay - and with half the competitors China and USA have, I might add), came the news of the inevitable traffic congestion which was to occur as folk from all over the globe flocked to China's capital for the wondrous spectacle that is the 2008 Olympics. China's answer to this road jamming caused by the gathering of excitable, like-minded sporting fans? To introduce a new number plates ruling, barring certain number plates from entering the city on certain days! (Emergency services exempted.) And, as ridiculous as it sounds, this idea has now been adopted by Mumbai, India's financial capital. Plates ending in numbers 1 or 2 will not be allowed to enter the city on Mondays, and so on. So, do all the workers in Mumbai with such a plate get the day off, or do they car share, hike to work, grab onto the back of an ambulance? Sounds too much like hard work to me!

I think London's alternative (also adopted by Singapore) of congestion charges, is more effective. This avoids the possibility of number plates theft and does not deny certain people access to the city. Personally, I'm not exactly enthralled by either scheme. The thought of having to pay to drive in certain areas just seems ludicrous. My answer? Just don't bother going there.

Dear dear, the subject of number plates...it just crops up everywhere, doesn't it?

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