Image credit: Crispin Hughes
There are 10 times more SUVs in England’s cities than there were 20 years ago, new research has revealed.
According to Clean Cities, SUVs in major urban areas made up 30% of total cars in 2022/2023 compared with 3% in 2002/2003.
The campaigners are calling for Paris-style measures to curb SUV use in major cities. Last year, the French capital voted to triple SUV parking charges, which preliminary findings reveal have reduced SUV surface-parking by two-thirds.
Oliver Lord, UK Head of Clean Cities, told Zag Daily that the UK cannot ignore “this crisis of carspreading.”
“These giant vehicles do more than dominate our streets – they worsen air quality and are far more dangerous in crashes, particularly for children.”
More than one million SUVs are sold annually in the UK that are too big for typical parking spaces, causing “stressful battles on our streets.”
Polling conducted by Clean Cities found that 59% of Londoners support higher parking charges for SUVs.
In London the number of SUVs has increased from 80,000 in 2002 to 800,000 in 2023. Across England, approximately 8.2 million SUVs roam the streets as of 2023 – which Clean Cities calculated would take up more space than the city of Manchester if parked next to each other with a one metre gap.
Recent research finds that SUVs in the UK are 14% more likely to kill a pedestrian or cyclist and 77% more likely to kill a child, compared to a traditional passenger car.
For young children, the risk is even graver. SUVs are three times more likely to kill a child pedestrian or cyclist aged nine or below compared with a traditional passenger car.
The findings come after a mass cycling protest took place in London earlier this year to highlight the dangers SUVs pose to cyclists and pedestrians. Calls to curb SUVs stem from health concerns too. Earlier this month, the environmental campaign group Mums for Lungs urged the government to phase out diesel and polluting SUVs after over 100,000 children in London were taken to hospital for serious breathing difficulties last year.
