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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To Say Tanks (SUVs) should be banned in cities

248 replies

Lovesgood · 31/05/2020 13:45

www.fastcompany.com/90420280/should-we-ban-suvs

www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/07/a-deadly-problem-should-we-ban-suvs-from-our-cities

They are a pest! I have always disliked them. I know Im not BU by the way. This is something that needs to be looked into properly and where better to start than here on mumsnet where the standard reply about these crap cars is "But I need a tank to drive my kids to school" They are NOT safer than other cars! Its a myth peddled by the car industry and only people who have no clue about cars believe that! (So plenty of people sadly).

OP posts:
cologne4711 · 31/05/2020 14:44

Totally agree OP. There is zero need for them in cities (and indeed in most rural areas unless you live up a track with millions of potholes in it, or somewhere very isolated in Scotland or the Pennines, where you might have more than one day of snow a year).

People drive them as status symbols. I hope that in time electric cars become a status symbol instead. Or even better: pushbikes.

Sparklingbrook · 31/05/2020 14:45

YABU. Even though you claim you aren’t. 🤷‍♀️

cologne4711 · 31/05/2020 14:45

Grow up, it’s a free country and people can drive what they like. So you don’t like them, who cares

I care because they take up too much room on the road and people use two spaces in car parks. And yummy mummies sit in them in my road 45 minutes before school pick up with the engine running for the heating/aircon. Heaven forbid that they should walk the 10 minutes from their house instead, but there are no bragging rights in that.

JustAnotherPoster00 · 31/05/2020 14:46

what about the people who travel roads more suitable for SUVs 90% of the time

A little bit of wet leaves on a rural A or B road does not require you to be in an SUV, most of the people who drive them around here are 30-50 year old women who in my observation (im only talking about the ones I have seen and offer no comment on those that I havent,for all I know maybe people around here arent able to drive) that dont seem to have the observational road awareness required to drive such a deadly weapon.

mylittlesandwich · 31/05/2020 14:48

Bit of a generalisation @cologne4711. I can park my car perfectly in 1 space and although I don't have a school age child when I do it would actually take me longer to drive there than to walk. The less courteous car owners and drivers near me are more likely to have a suped up Clio or a corsa but I don't hate those cars.

sergeilavrov · 31/05/2020 14:57

Deadly weapon? Biscuit

Shameful comment given how many people are risking their lives at protests right now on the topic of real deadly weapons.

EasterIssland · 31/05/2020 14:58

“ I care because they take up too much room on the road and people use two spaces in car parks. And yummy mummies sit in them in my road 45 minutes before school pick up with the engine running for the heating/aircon. ”

Not sure which cars you’ve seen but mine only takes 1 space
Also little bit judging mums that drive suvs. Are you telling me those in hatchbacks don’t have the engine on for 45mins? Btw I don’t do the 45 rule you claim we do.

EowynDernhelm · 31/05/2020 15:00

I'm pretty split on this issue.

I personally have a 4x4. I have livestock, dogs & kids, have a smallholding & live rurally. I couldn't get by without my 4x4. It carries animal feed, bales of hay & straw, tows a livestock trailer & flatbed hay trailer. I use it in the fields sometimes too, to move stuff from one side of the smallholding to the other. I carry my equipment to & from home & smallholding. I put my large breed dogs in the back. I also do the school run. In winter it's essential - there are floods and icy hills between home & the smallholding. Anything but a 4x4 wouldn't do the job. But I also use it for ferrying kids around, the school run when the bus doesn't run, and also to go into the nearest town once a week. My 4x4 has a bar on the front to protect it from deer hitting it and wrecking the front of my car (we are surrounded by deer). I accept this makes it more dangerous for people, and I drive accordingly - bloody carefully. But I can't afford a second vehicle to be able to go into town.

I do think that 4x4 type vehicles are overused by those who really don't need them. I do roll my eyes a bit when I turn up to the school run (rural school) in my mud & cow shit covered vehicle (no point washing it off - it'll only be covered again in a few hours) and there are a number of parents sat there is showroom pristine 4x4s, who clearly have never seen a bit of mud. And yes, they do mostly sit there with their engines & air con running. I also think that many who drive these vehicles aren't as careful as they should be, with what is essentially a weapon. I drive lots of bigger vehicles (tractors, lorries, etc) and never forget the power of what I'm driving, and am very careful.

So do I think there should be less 4x4s in town environments? Yes. But not by banning them - unless we actually make towns vehicle free completely - now that, I would support. Pedestrianise all towns. Protect those walking in towns. But don't penalise those who genuinely need bigger vehicles.

Bluntness100 · 31/05/2020 15:00

I live rurally with very bad roads. I need mine as normal cars don’t cut it.

Would you like me to get a second car to drive to the city op? Maybe I could park it up someplace, then drive to it and switch cars?

Or maybe I should personally be banned from all cities unless I can get public transport?

Oh and I can park mine perfectly fine in one space.

OtterBe4 · 31/05/2020 15:01

I’ve never understood the need for a SUV that’s purely for urban driving.
I have a neighbour who loads her kids into her white RR to drive 500yards to school then home and it’s parked up all day apart from shopping, she doesn’t work, pointless status symbol.
Unfortunately they’ve been marketed to families as safe whereas 10/15 yrs ago you only saw rural ppl driving them.

CallmeAngelina · 31/05/2020 15:01

@lovesgood, Well, I've been driving one for lots of my 40 years post-test without a scratch on the car, me or anyone else.
If people can't drive properly, I think the fault lies with them, not your opinion on the car they're in.

MarieQueenofScots · 31/05/2020 15:02

I have a compact crossover SUV. I have no problems parking in one space, reverse parking and I rarely drive my daughter to school.

Just checking, would you like me to buy a new vehicle for the odd occasion I drive into a city?

HorseChestnutTree · 31/05/2020 15:02

I agree op, but I think all but essential car trips in inner cities should be banned. Car free cities are the future

So what do you propose will go on in inner cities and how will people access it?

OtterBe4 · 31/05/2020 15:03

@sergeilavrov
A 2 tonne car is a deadly weapon and more of them about in the U.K.
The protests in the US are over police brutality/racism, no comparison at all.

Chiyo666 · 31/05/2020 15:05

I can’t fit all my shit in a smaller car.

Macncheeseballs · 31/05/2020 15:05

Sergeil - the death toll and pollution from cars is more shameful

BadLad · 31/05/2020 15:05

They're fun to drive. Much more satisfying than smaller cars.

I can walk from my house into the town centre in fifteen minutes so I never have to drive through the most crowded streets. I always take the back way.

Won't be giving mine up any time soon.

GreytExpectations · 31/05/2020 15:07

So OP what do you suggest to people who require those cars for driving rurally but still need to make trips into cities? You want to force people to buy a car specifically for the city?

You need to grow up. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it should be banned. Funny how you can't come up with a solution for those who require the SUVs.

Macncheeseballs · 31/05/2020 15:10

Horsechestnut tree - normal life will go on in inner cities just without cars - improved public transport infrastructure and bikes for access. Car free cities already exist

Macncheeseballs · 31/05/2020 15:11

Greyexpectations - no you can keep your car, you just wouldn't be able to drive it into the city

QuestionableMouse · 31/05/2020 15:11

I have a Zafira Tourer that's pretty big. Am I allowed to drive in a city?

SimonJT · 31/05/2020 15:12

@cologne4711

Grow up, it’s a free country and people can drive what they like. So you don’t like them, who cares

I care because they take up too much room on the road and people use two spaces in car parks. And yummy mummies sit in them in my road 45 minutes before school pick up with the engine running for the heating/aircon. Heaven forbid that they should walk the 10 minutes from their house instead, but there are no bragging rights in that.

There aren’t any SUVs for the UK market that take up more than one parking space as no SUVs in thr UK are 2.4m wide, they also don’t take up too much room on the road. Many SUVs are smaller than a mondeo and smaller than many estate cars.
NameChangeNugget · 31/05/2020 15:13

YABVU

MintyMabel · 31/05/2020 15:13

I know Im not BU by the way

Actually you are.

We have a large “SUV” type car. If is the only vehicle large enough to carry DD’s walking frame and wheelchair. Is she to be denied access to the city? As it is the car I use for commuting, can I not work in the city?

EasterIssland · 31/05/2020 15:14

@Macncheeseballs I’m happy to go by bus to work (have done it for the last 10 years ) however in the current situation it’ll be really difficult. There is another thread where they’re saying only 11 people will be allowed to use the bus. This will make quite difficult the commute for most of us and will need to find other ways of going to work. Loads of improvement will need to be done to completely remove cars from towns