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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/can-cities-drive-suvs-off-their-streets/>
"In early February, Paris took a decisive step to deter visitors from driving
enormous cars like SUVs in the city center. Voters approved a measure that
would triple parking fees for SUVs and other large vehicles. If Paris City
Council approves this measure in May, on-street parking fees for heavy vehicles
will be as high as $240 for six hours, as opposed to $80 for regular cars.
(Exceptions will be made for Paris residents who park in their own
neighborhoods, people who use heavier vehicles because of disabilities, and
professional vehicles such as taxis.) Residents of Lyon, the third-largest city
in France, will vote on a similar proposal this month, and in Grenoble,
residents have already voted to increase parking prices for SUVs who park in
city-owned parking structures.
There are several reasons a city like Paris might want to discourage people
from driving ginormous vehicles. Not only do SUVs and other large cars guzzle
more fuel (and therefore emit more greenhouses gases) than regular cars, but
they’re also more lethal to pedestrians and cyclists. New research published by
the Virginia-based nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed that
trucks, SUVs, and vans with hood heights greater than 40 inches were nearly
twice as likely to cause a fatality in crashes with pedestrians than shorter,
lighter vehicles. This adds to a growing body of research that shows bigger,
heavier vehicles are more lethal in crashes — even to other cars. Children are
particularly vulnerable. In New York City, half of the children killed on city
streets between 2014 and 2019 were struck by SUVs or other large vehicles; in
2022, that percentage rose to a grisly 80 percent. Finally, heavy vehicles like
SUVs, which can weigh over 6,000 pounds (three tons), also take a greater toll
on roads.
Following Paris’ example, Germany’s Environmental Agency (BUND) called for
higher parking fees on SUVs, and so did the Association of German Cities. (So
far, only the city of Tübingen has implemented such a policy.) That said, in
seven European countries, the taxes residents pay when buying a
combustion-engine car or truck more than double the cost of the vehicle. Those
countries are Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Turkey, the Netherlands and
Norway."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
