Under a nice spring sun, the owners of certainly 800 old-timers listened to the environmental zone meeting of 12 last March in Rotterdam. The meeting - organized by Stichting Rotterdamse Klassiekers - was a peaceful protest against the environmental zone that was introduced on January 1. The police advised other motorists to drive or take public transport, because the protest led to considerable crowds in the center of the port city.
Distinction arouses surprise
The owners of the classic cars disagree with the fact that their vehicles have been banned since January. Among other things, they find the criteria that the vehicles must meet to be unreasonable. Earlier, the Rotterdam Classic Classic Foundation demonstrated that the predicted effects with regard to the environmental zone must be nuanced, since, among other things, there is a significant shrinkage in the stock of motor vehicles exempted for 1 January 2014 as a result of the current MRB scheme for vintage cars were from MRB and were younger than 40 years. It is also surprising that cars with a date of first authorization (DET) from before 1 January 1976 may enter the zone, but younger petrol vehicles with a DET from before 1 January 1992 are not. With Diesel vehicles, the DET may not even be before 1 January 2001 to enter the Rotterdam environmental zone.
Many questions from all parties involved
The environmental zone raises many questions for various parties involved. For example, on 8 March - a few days before last Saturday's Coolsingel Oldtimer Meeting - there was a well-attended hearing in the Rotterdam City Hall, which took seven hours and during which objections were heard. It was remarkable that not all questions could be answered in an appropriate manner. So there are not only many questions about the environmental zone among the rejected old-timer owners, but also among the researchers and their instigators.