To Say Tanks (SUVs) should be banned in cities

[Lovesgood]

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).

@Macncheeseballs

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

So that forces people to buy a smaller car specially for city trips. That's ridiculous. What resoures will be available for getting into the city from rural locations for those who cannot buy an additional car? I know plenty of people in tiny villages or the countryside that don't have easy access to public transport, what's you brilliant suggestion for them?

By the way, I don't own a suv but I also don't feel entitled enough to tell others how to live their life.

I used to have an SUV in the city. I needed it to carry my kit for work. It ran on LPG and was incredibly eco friendly but I used to get hammered by friends and acquaintances who thought they knew better. When I told them it was almost zero emissions they spluttered and didn't know what to say.

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?

This is a very valid point. @Lovesgood so what is your brilliant suggestion for families the the above PP? Is her child denied access to a city because she requires a wheelchair? I'm guessing you won't have an intelligent response to this.

Easter island, obviously right now not a great time for public transport, but cycling good if distance allows. Loads of improvements are needed but are possible.
Greyexpectations, people outside the city would drive to the outskirts and get into the city via other routes

Cologne4711, I fail to see the link between "yummy mummies sitting with the engine running for 45 minutes" and SUVs. Surely they could/would do the same in any other car?
Sound like class envy to me.

Bluebadges are not denied access

@Lovesgood

Estates are not as dangerous to pedestrians because they are lower to the ground, so when they collide the pedestrian ends up on the bonnet. A collision with an SUV means they end up under the car and are much more likely to die. As SUVs have a higher gravity point they tip over much easier than estates which also causes a bunch of problems, including the SUV driver, thats why its simply not true that the SUV driver is safer, its a false sense of security. SUVs endanger all road users more than other cars.

Any car will scoop a pedestrian up onto the windscreen. It’s the momentum of the vehicle moving forward that does it. Nothing to do with what kind of car it is.

Drdetriment, your friends were probably sputtering on the air pollution the thousands of other vehicles are emitting.

@Macncheeseballs

Easter island, obviously right now not a great time for public transport, but cycling good if distance allows. Loads of improvements are needed but are possible. Greyexpectations, people outside the city would drive to the outskirts and get into the city via other routes

Plenty of people can't cycle for various reasons. What other routes are available? Will busses be big enough to fit wheelchairs, walkers, pushchairs along with entire families? How many additional public transport vehicles will be available and how is that good for the environment? It isn't feasible to assume everyone can use other methods of transport. This is a very "perfect world" you are suggesting that simply doesn't and can't exist.

Greyt - given this model is already working in parts of the world I am surprised you are so sceptical.

Given its not working in all major cities so I've got plenty reason to be skeptical.

Sceptical obviously

I drive a larger car because (in normal times) I often have to fit three adults, two car seats and a wheelchair in my car. Had a hatchback and it wasn't big enough.

I've only ever parked it over two spaces once, when I was picking my mum up after a fall in town and no disabled spaces were free. She can't get in the car (any car) unless the door is wide open and I didn't know what else to do. Paid for two tickets and left her blue badge on the dash. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'd quite happily ban the OP from cities.

I know I'm not being unreasonable because the Guardian said so.

DH referred to SUV’s as “Kiddy killers” when we were looking at getting a new car when Dd1 was born.
They are unfortunately at the head height of a small child making driveway accidents to have a fatal outcome.
SUV’s also are more likely to result in the death of a hit pedestrian than a smaller lower car due to the impact zone. (SUV heights crush internal organs while lower cars your more likely to be thrown onto the hood. Leg injuries are more survivable than major crush injuries

Your actually 11% more likely to be killed as a driver in a SUV involved in a crash than a saloon as they are much more likely to roll.

Every city should ban everything I don't like!

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

And how do disabled/elderly cope in these existing cities? My DD has epilepsy and if she has a seizure when we are out and about we need to get her home pronto- cycling or waiting for public transport would not cut it. At best would be a taxi- but that is a car and would they be banned too?

If you have a pedestrianised city but let cars such as taxis in it is even more dangerous as the pedestrians are not used to traffic being there and so often step out in front of the few cars which are allowed in. So you have to have all or nothing, and with no cars at all you exclude people who are not fit and healthy enough to cycle or those unable to use public transport. This utopia you describe seems to not be accessible to everyone.

I have an SUV. I need the boot space and ability to fit three adults, two car seats and a dog in.

Maybe there should be some correlation between the type of car in which you pass your test and the type of car you drive. It did used to be the case that if you passed in an automatic you could drive a stick shift, yes, I know that's different now. At the moment you can pass your test in a tiny vehicle and buy a pseudo-Sherman tank the next.
Having said that, watching some people try and park one can be a great source of amusement.

Every city should ban everything I don't like!

Except for me, obviously.

Love my huge Range Rover. No business of any of yours what I drive. Jealously

I remember years ago the man who designed them said they were never built to drive around town so that tells you something.

@mrsBtheparker

How would that work in reality though?

I passed my test in a Polo, then took over my Dad's large Volvo estate. Next car was a tiny C1, but I was driving a tractor/long wheelbase Jumbo transit van at work.

I just think they need to stop making cars bigger and bigger. Our streets aren't getting any wider, parking spaces aren't getting bigger or more plentiful, so we really need our cars to stay the same size that the system is designed for.

I have an SUV (not 4 wheel drive) because it's higher up and therefore a lot easier for me to get into with my disabilities. This is the case with a surprisingly large number of people.
The Motability scheme leases more SUVs & Crossovers than any other vehicle.

This would ban me and hundreds of thousands of disabled people from cities