This morning, the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) expansion comes into effect.
From today, the zone where the £12.50 charge applies is much wider and thousands of motorists whose vehicles aren’t compliant now have to pay the fee.
The build-up to the ULEZ expansion has been fraught with hurdles, but after approval from the High Court, it was allowed to go ahead.
Furthermore, as today is the end of the bank holiday weekend, thousands of people will be taking to the roads in busses and in cars to head to work.
This could lead to traffic jams and time spent waiting in a queue, the perfect time to try and solve this optical illusion. Created by Big Motoring World, your task is to try and figure out the size difference between the cars in under ten seconds.
Did you solve the optical illusion? No worries if not. While on the surface it appears that two cars are bigger than the others, this is not necessarily the case.
This is an expert of size constancy, where the brain can struggle to perceive that an object is the same size even if we are further away from it.
If you look closely, you’ll notice that every car in the image is exactly the same size. The second image above uses straight lines to demonstrate that the images are the same size. What makes them different is that they’ve been positioned in such a way to confuse the brain.
While the brainteaser may confuse people, so too has the ULEZ expansion after battle lines were drawn between those for and those against it.
Speaking about the expansion, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “This is a landmark day for our city which will lead to a greener, healthier London for everyone.
“The decision to expand the ULEZ London-wide was a difficult one, but necessary to save lives, protect children’s lungs and help prevent asthma, dementia and other health issues.
“All the evidence shows that it’s clean air zones like ULEZ that are the game-changer in a city like London when it comes to cutting toxic air quickly and meaningfully to protect people’s health.
“It’s thanks to the ULEZ that we are now set to get London’s air to within legal limits in the next couple of years, 184 years earlier than previously projected.”
