The number of giant cars in England’s cities has increased tenfold in recent years, according to researchers, who warn the vehicles are taking up excessive public space and posing a threat to public safety.
Analysis published by Clean Cities has found SUVs have gone from 3% to 30% of existing cars in the past two decades. In London, the number of SUVs has increased from about 80,000 in 2002 to about 800,000 in 2023.
Campaigners are calling for Paris-style parking charges to be applied to major cities including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. They say this will discourage people from taking up excessive amounts of space with big cars.
Last year, Parisians voted to triple parking costs for SUVs, in order to tackle air pollution and climate breakdown by targeting generally richer drivers in heavy, large and polluting cars. Reports suggest this is already beginning to have an impact in Paris. Le Parisien said the new parking rate for large vehicles in Paris had reduced the number of SUVs using surface parking by two-thirds.
UK local authorities are taking some measures. Cardiff has consulted with the public on a weight-based threshold for parking charges, while Lambeth in London is working with two other authorities on similar plans, and Bristol and Bath are also working on plans to discourage SUV use. In Edinburgh, the council has restricted advertising for SUVs.
More than 1m cars that are too big to fit in parking spaces are sold in the UK each year, and numbers are growing.
Larger cars are more likely to cause deaths in crashes than smaller ones, as they weigh more and have tall front ends that can trap victims beneath them. Analysis has found drivers in the tallest cars could not see children as old as nine when they were directly in front of the vehicle.
SUVs also pump more toxic gases into the air, and produce more toxic particles from tyres due to their heavier weight.
Oliver Lord, the UK head of Clean Cities, said: “In London alone, SUVs now take up as much space as an entire inner-city borough – that’s tarmac we could be using for homes, parks, or safer streets. These oversized vehicles are not just swallowing our public space, they’re also far more dangerous, especially for children. If we want cities that are safe, breathable and accessible, we have to get serious about tackling the rise of these urban land-hogs.”
The trend for giant cars has spread through Europe, with recent research finding “monster” pickup trucks are enjoying increasing popularity on the continent.
Analysis has found SUVs are on the rise in the UK partly because they are taxed at far lower levels than in comparable European countries.
Dr Anna Goodman, an academic transport researcher and director of Transport for Quality of Life, who collaborated with Clean Cities to conduct the research, said: “SUVs increasingly dominate our streets. This has important implications for congestion, public space and road safety. The evidence is clear that SUVs increase road danger for people walking and cycling, particularly for children. Many cities around the world are bringing in targeted measures to discourage SUV ownership and use, and early reports from Paris indicate that these measures can be successful.”
