Black cloud squeal hotline

October 15, 2008 - 3:42 PM by Harry

The Ayalon highway: emissions are abundant Tel Aviv gridlock is a major problem. And while the bureaucrats duke it out over the best way to fix things, the smog continues to billow.

Our official emission standards are competitive with the world’s most strict governments, but when it comes to enforcement, well, the Police sometimes seem more interested in taking photos of people speeding.

Now the government is handing matters over to the community of drivers, according to a YNet report. Who better to rat out that truck with the rusted-out exhaust line, hopefully taking it off the road and adding years of lung life to everyone who would be in its wake, than the dude two lanes over in the Prius? According to the Environmental Protection ministry, the answer is a resounding “Nobody.”

The Environmental Protection and the Transport ministries have embarked on a joint initiative recently, forming the polluting vehicles hotline, meant to allow drivers to report any cars they think might be exceeding the legal vehicular emission limits.

According to the plan, introduced by Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, people who call the hotline would be able to do so anonymously, but they would have to give a complete description of the polluting car, such as make and model, color and license plate.

….MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), who heads the Knesset’s environmental lobby, welcomed the initiative, despite its innate difficulties: “We’re bound to see some false reports, but the overall effect of the system would be a positive one,” he said.

“The mere existence of such a hotline would prompt car owners to take better care of their vehicle, in order to avoid citations.”

So from now on, if you’re driving along the highway and you see a black cloud emanating from a fellow driver’s vehicle, you’ll only have yourself and the dude two lanes over in the Prius to blame.

Image courtesy EagleXDV from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

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