Latest news with #CleanCities
Telegraph
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Tax SUV drivers more to pay for potholes, say campaigners
SUV drivers should be taxed more to pay for potholes, campaigners have said. Clean Cities, a European lobby group, said that drivers of 'supersized' vehicles should have to pay more tax because they also endanger pedestrians and cyclists. They added that since 2021, 4.6 million cars bigger than a typical parking space have been sold in the UK. These larger cars – defined as being either more than 1.8m wide or 4.8m long – have surged in popularity despite concerns over their safety. Last year, a record more than 1.2 million of vehicles wider than 1.8m were sold. The campaign group are calling for vehicle excise duty to be altered in favour of lighter, smaller cars which are less dangerous, and they suggested parking should be more expensive for SUVs. Oliver Lord, the UK head of the Clean Cities Campaign, said: 'Cars are getting bigger every year, while our streets are not. 'We need carmakers to prioritise normal-sized cars that can be parked more easily and are less dangerous to people walking around. 'It's only fair if you want to buy a massive SUV that you should expect to pay more for the space it takes up.' Increase in fatal collisions Recent figures from the Department for Transport suggested the number of fatal collisions would increase if the weight of cars continues to rise. Ruth Carlson, a civil engineer who examined a number of collisions between pedestrians, cyclists and various car models, concluded: 'As car weight increases, the number of fatal collisions rises. 'Lighter cars (500-1000kg) have the lowest fatal collision rates per million cars across all collision types, indicating a lower relative risk compared to heavier cars.' In July 2023, a Land Rover crashed into a school in Wimbledon and killed two young girls after ploughing through a perimeter fence.
The Guardian
06-04-2025
- Automotive
- The Guardian
The Observer view on SUVs: they are too dangerous and too big, their drivers should be made to pay
Britain is facing an unusual crisis: carspreading. Our road vehicles are getting bigger as people buy more and more SUVs of increasing dimensions and weight. At the same time, our streets and parking places remain the same size. The consequences of this uncontrolled vehicular expansion have become profound. Potholes are being created in greater numbers as our roads are pounded by heavier vehicles; multiple parking spaces are being taken over by single, giant cars; and road accidents are now producing more severe injuries to drivers and passengers of other vehicles. This last issue is of particular concern. A study by the European Transport Safety Council found that in a collision between a modest-size SUV (sports utility vehicle) weighing 1,600kg and a lighter car weighing 1,300kg, the risk of fatal injury decreases by 50% for the occupants of the heavier car but increases by almost 80% for the occupants of the lighter car. Similarly, pedestrians and cyclists are more likely to be killed if the car that strikes them has a bonnet that is higher off the road than average, a typical feature of an SUV. The trouble is that sales of these vehicles are booming. In 2024, they accounted for 33% of all registrations, compared with a figure of only 12% a decade earlier. This dramatic change in the use of our roads has led organisations such as the campaign group Clean Cities to call for strict measures to be imposed on car owners. Their argument is straightforward. If a car generates more potholes in our roads, takes up more parking space and poses more danger to pedestrians, cyclists and other car occupants compared with smaller vehicles, then it is only fair that its owner pays more for driving that vehicle. Paris has already introduced specific parking charges for SUVs. Drivers of these vehicles now have to pay triple the amount of those who drive regular cars. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has indicated that he would support such a scheme for the capital and should be encouraged to pursue the idea with rigour. However, attempts to tackle the problem should not be confined merely to parking. At present, the owners of polluting vehicles have to pay more road tax, based on the carbon dioxide they emit, and drivers of more expensive cars, including electric ones, are also hit with an extra tax. It may be that these measures will have to be expanded in future, with similar levies being imposed on the owners of SUVs and other vehicles whose sizes exceed specific dimensions. Sign up to Observed Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers after newsletter promotion Avoiding such measures could allow a transport problem that has already reached significant levels to become a major crisis. It is an issue that now needs to be considered as a matter of urgency.
The Independent
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
A million cars sold in UK each year are too big for normal parking spaces
More than a million cars sold in the UK each year are too big for normal parking spaces, new research has revealed. And the numbers are only rising, meaning that new cars are increasingly outgrowing cities and towns, according to Clean Cities. The campaign network found that 4.6million cars have been sold in the country since 2021 that are larger than an average urban parking space. The trend for big cars is also concerning because they are more deadly in crashes – due to their weight and tall front ends that can trap people underneath – as well as because of the greater quantities of toxic gases they pump into the air. UK head of Clean Cities, Oliver Lord, told The Guardian: 'Cars are getting bigger every year – while our streets are not. We need carmakers to prioritise normal-sized cars that can be parked more easily and are less dangerous to people walking around. It's only fair if you want to buy a massive SUV [sports utility vehicle] that you should expect to pay more for the space it takes up.' Large SUVs – which are over 1.8 metres wide or 4.8 metres long – are too large for most parking spaces, create more potholes, and can be more dangerous for the public, yet they are becoming evermore popular, with a record 1,213,385 cars that were wider than 1.8 metres sold in 2024. With some cities already cracking down on the vehicles, the campaigners from Clean Cities have issued calls for more charges to be imposed on SUVs in light of the damage they cause to roads and environments as well as the extra space they take up. Green party peer Jenny Jones, who launched a cross-party anti-SUV alliance last week, said: 'Sales of SUVs have leapt up in the last two decades, yet many urban streets and car parking bays are simply too small to accommodate the increasing girth of these vehicles. 'I like what Paris has done to discourage their use, by charging the largest cars as much as three times more to park. In the UK, Bath and Islington councils have introduced similar measures. The government should encourage other councils to replicate these efforts. 'SUVs pollute and are often owned and driven by wealthier citizens at the expense of those in less wealthy areas. They feel safer to drive, but are much less safe for any pedestrians and cyclists they collide with.'
