MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Smog emergency in Santiago de Chile for the fifth day running
Santiago de Chile is under a smog emergency for the fifth day running because of the poor quality of air, as reported by the local authorities of the Chilean capital. For this reason 40% of vehicles without catalytic convertors, and with plate numbers ending in 0,1,2 or 3 are banned from circulating in the city. Likewise motorcycles manufactured before 2002 and with plate numbers ending in 0 and 1. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rules“ ...motorcycles manufactured before 2002 ....”
May 30th, 2018 - 11:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Further evidence of the corruption in Chile.
An intelligent approach to the matter of emissions would be on the basis of not the year of manufacture, but on the basis of the actual annually measured amount that each motorcycle or other vehicle actually puts out. The annual Revisión Técnica process provides the government with hard emissions data on every on every vehicle that is registered for street use. But in this case, the new-vehicle distributors -- which have connived with the legislature to prevent the import of used vehicles in most of the country -- are now finding ways to accelerate the obsolescence of even verifiably low-emissions vehicles in order to increase their new-vehicle sales. (A number of pre-2002 models with EFI and catalyst systems offer exceptionally low emissions).
Truly corrupt, and very chileno, po.
Or maybe it's just easier to enforce, assuming Chilean number plates give the year like UK ones do. Much simpler to spot number plates dated pre-2002 than to give the police a long list of makes and models to look out for, especially when they will be looking at the plates anyway for those ending in 0 or 1.
May 31st, 2018 - 12:20 am - Link - Report abuse 0No, tree, the plates do not change with stickers from year to year. A plate issued in year 2000 looks just like a plate issued in 2018.
May 31st, 2018 - 03:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There is no way to glance at a number plate to tell what year the vehicle is or even if the registration is current.
The restriction is a simple matter of corruption, with a dash of technological stupidity, on the part of the legislature.
Well in that case I agree ruling based on emissions would have been better. Politicians are never the most scientifically literate, though.
May 31st, 2018 - 06:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This is not just a matter of technological illiteracy, tree, it's another in a long series of corruption events in the Chilean legislature and the regulatory agencies.
May 31st, 2018 - 10:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Here is another in that series, a case I am looking into. This particular municipality wants to squeeze more revenue out of the residents, so block after block of even residential streets are locked up with newly arrived Haitians working the parquimetro scam, charging for parking in front of one's house. Well, the residents have responded by parking on the usually unpaved space between the house and the kerb. So now the municipality is charging huge fines for that sort of parking, and even for residents who park in their own driveways.
The Chilean capacity for government corruption is endless.
Why does the municipality want to help newly arrived Haitians? Surely they can't afford big bribes?
Jun 02nd, 2018 - 12:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Tree, your lack of understanding of the fundamentals of local matters continues to amaze.
Jun 02nd, 2018 - 05:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Municipalities in Chile contract with private companies to run the parquimetro business. The owners of the parquimetro concessions employ Haitians since they need work and will work for next to nothing, even less than the required minimums, and since they are only temporary workers on 1-year sujeta-a-contrato visas, the overhead for these employers is very low, and thus their profits are comparatively high. In some communities the regional offices of the national health agency have halted the parquimetro company operations.
Have you no understanding whatsoever of how these countries work ?
“your lack of understanding of the fundamentals of local matters continues to amaze.”
Jun 02nd, 2018 - 09:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You're easily amazed. Why on earth would I know about scams local to Chile when I've never been there? Perhaps if you explain how this parquimetro scam works then it'll make sense, because right now it doesn't. What on earth does the health agency have to do with parking?
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