An end of an era in more than one way. Today I put into my tax disc holder what will be the last ever tax disc I buy. From October the 1st it will no longer be necessary to display a tax disc in a car, so September 2014 is the final month of issuing disks. For 93 years vehicles driven on British roads have sported a paper disk, but no more. From 1st October 2015 no cars will show them and all number plates will now be scanned regularly for tax evaders. What I have also learnt is that September 2014 issued discs, the ones with the perforated edges that is, are rarer than hens teeth. As the DVLA have exhausted supplies of blank perforated discs, as a stop gap, most September 2014 issued discs have been printed on plain paper and so the car owner will need to cut the disc out with scissors. I ordered mine in mid August and so received it in pristine perforated form. Chances are this may become a collectors item as it has been issued direct from the DVLA and could be worth a few hundred pounds once it expires. Not bad for my £20 yearly outlay. Much as I can see the sense of the new electronic tax system, I'll miss the paper discs, especially that fear of ripping them trying to get them out of the perforated paper square. And I can see a whole host of problems when the electronic surveillance vans mis-read a numberplate, not to mention criminal gangs scamming legitimate plates. Progress I guess, but the end of an era indeed.
As is the fact that today, September 1st is the last month of this project blog. I have a plan for the new blog, but I can't believe I've reached this milestone so quickly. The time has flown and my 50th year project now has but another 29 days to run.
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