Should Removing Car Pollution Filters Be Illegal?

Environmental campaigners and health ministers have called on companies such as Google, eBay and Gumtree to ban all adverts on their sites promoting the service of removing air pollution filters from diesel cars. Furthermore, such groups are also demanding that the government outlaw the practice altogether.

At present, driving without a pollution filter is illegal – but removing them or having them removed is not. It is this legal loophole which many garages across Britain have exploited by advertising their services to remove the filters in question without replacing them.

Legal Loopholes Exacerbating Already Serious Problem

Despite initially endorsing diesel engines several years ago, the European authorities have since made a dramatic U-turn and implemented mobile monitoring stations to assess diesel emissions across the continent. Stringent regulations are placed upon diesel vehicles, including the mandatory installation of a filter.

The filters in question are diesel particulate filters (DPFs), which often become clogged in urban zones and must be removed, cleaned and replaced. Such a service can be costly, however, and many unscrupulous garages offer to save consumers money by simply removing the clogged filter without replacing it.

Cars without a DPF have automatically failed their MOT since 2014 and driving without one is illegal. However, the process of removing it all alone is not illegal and as a result, garages have not only been able to offer the practice but also advertise it on mainstream sites such as Google, eBay and Gumtree. All three sites have refused to listen to pleas to ban the adverts, citing the fact that they are not breaking any laws – despite the obvious immoral implications of the service.

At a time when poor air quality is still claiming the lives of roughly 40,000 to 50,000 Britons each year (even 60 years after the Clean Air Act), such negligent behaviour on the part of all involved parties (garages, car owners and advertisement sites) has been called inexcusable by campaigners. Removal of the DPF without an inclusive replacement service should be outlawed, they say.

What the Campaigners Say

Angry words have been spoken by several MPs and campaigners, keen to banish this selfish and damaging practice to the past.

• Oliver Hayes of Friends of the Earth said: “Air pollution is a public health crisis of breath-taking proportions. We’re asking the ASA [Advertising Standards Agency] to clamp down on those advertising these dubious practices and help prevent more deadly pollution hitting our children’s lungs. But we’re also calling on the government to make it illegal to remove these pollution filters in the first place. Unless they do, the absurd loophole remains.”
• Mary Creagh, MP said: “The removal of DPF filters by rogue garages is another diesel test dodge which cheats the public out of clean air. The Department of Transport did the right thing in introducing visual checks into MOTs. But it should now look at tightening up MOTs and outlawing the removal of pollution filters altogether.”

To date, 1,188 vehicles have been caught driving without a filter by police – who knows how many more thoughtless drivers have taken advantage of the service and evaded capture until now.