In a one-day internet poll 90 percent of respondents voted against road pricing in the Netherlands.

The poll was organised by daily De Telegraaf in response to a proposal by Traffic Minister Camiel Eurlings. He said on Friday that he will only give the go-ahead for road pricing if it is supported by the Dutch automobile association (ANWB). The car drivers' interest body, which has some 4 million members, is holding its own online opinion poll.

The 90 percent majority of the 196,000 people who voted no in the Telegraaf poll said that road pricing does not reduce traffic jams. It would increase the cost of driving and the recording devices in every car would be an infringement of privacy, they said.

Pollsters and politics
The minister's remarks led to irritation among MPs, who said it is they, not the ANWB membership, who decide on the introduction of laws. Opinion pollster Maurice de Hond criticised the set-up of ANWB's poll, pointing out that it is polling a self-selected group of car users, and that it has become politically loaded because the minister said in advance that he would respect a no-vote by the ANWB members.

Attempts by previous traffic ministers to reduce traffic congestion through toll systems failed. Possibly Mr Eurlings has resorted to the ANWB poll as a face-saving measure, should his attempts fail as well, according to constitutional law professor Douwe Jan Elzinga at Groningen University.

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