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).

Crossovers are too small. In order to stay overnight I need my powerchair, manual chair in case my hand stops working, and a cabin suitcase for my meds. That's just for one night. Visiting for a week and I might need my scooter too if going off road as my power chair isn't the biggest fan of mud.
I also have DC, one of which also has issues with continence, so we both need at least 3 changes of clothes, wipes, towels for the chair etc. This is before the standard stuff. Most of that we have to take for day trips too. Think of all the stuff a young baby needs and make it adult sized.
My chairs are all easily broke down for the car, so not heavy just take up a lot of room. The q3 boot is too small, I'd need the Q7. Thank god for Volvos and Skodas.
My need for this stuff didn't suddenly happen once I was awarded a blue badge.

Okay maybe not 50 but we’ve not always had cars and plenty of people still don’t!

We can rent beach gear instead of lugging our own down etc. There are possibilities but as this thread demonstrates people just want to do the most convenient thing rather than what’s best for the planet in the long run.

There is of course another huge disadvantage to driving a car or being a passenger in a car. Health.

Car driving/being a passenger is unhealthy. Not just the fumes that are constantly being breathed in, though this is a problem for pedestrians as well, but because many people will drive everywhere. Even to a corner shop, instead of walking for 10 minutes.

Most people would lose quite a bit of weight if they gave up their cars and have stronger cardio vascular health, muscles etc.. Good for them, their family and good for the health service

I think the message from those who say we should all rely on public transport is that we should not be going to the beach, or any other 'unnecessary journeys' . All those pesky townies wanting a day out? Terrible for the planet and so should be sacrificed for the greater good.

Not at all. Public transport would go to the beach as well. Even remote small seaside towns all used to have a train station

Most people would lose quite a bit of weight if they gave up their cars

It doesn’t have to be a draconian edict though.

I commute 9/10 times by train if I’m going to see clients. I quite happily potter down to the station, in fact that was the reason we bought this house. The odd one/two clients it simply isn’t possible and I drive.

Similarly I have a big car because we like to go on holiday with my parents and we share a vehicle. If I downsize, we take two which defeats the object!

@HellloBambinos what size rucksacks do you own!

In our case our nearest bus stop is a 25 min walk away it's then a 35 min bus ride to the station then a 1hr 15min (direct) to our nearest beach, from that station it is another 20 min bus ride to the seafront. Or I could get in my car and drive the 40-45 mins it takes without having to carry DC and all the stuff in my enormous back pack

Even remote small seaside towns all used to have a train station

All of them.....? They really didn’t!

I once had not only the misfortune of going to Skegness but I had to get the train there, it was so slow at times I genuinely believe I could have walked faster.

I get that using public feels like a daunting task because we are so used to the convenience of our cars, but can people really not see that when you multiply all these excuses by the billions of people on the planet that it’s absolutely terrible for the environment? Like seriously?

Haven't read rtft but these vehicles (in fact the majority of modern vehicles) are too big for regular car parking spaces and for the type of medieval street plan/width that is not uncommon in UK towns and cities.

The Waitrose in Sevenoaks, Kent (where every other vehicle is one of these) had to have specially wide spaces when the car park was redone recently.

I don't think you could ban them as they are useful to some people but they could attract a higher tax and I think should require a special driving test to check the driver can park and reverse them. As I have encountered a fair few who cannot!

Where I live there is a bus once every 2 hours. I have 3 children under 5. You couldn’t pay me to use public transport.

There are possibilities but as this thread demonstrates people just want to do the most convenient thing rather than what’s best for the planet in the long run.

Yes and they always miss the point about a massive improvement in public transport

@SimonJT I take it you're not familiar with the roads of Lincolnshire? I recon I could drag myself to Skegness faster than any road or rail transport option

I get that using public feels like a daunting task because we are so used to the convenience of our cars

It’s not so much daunting, I’m quite happy to travel by public transport, as utterly impossible in some cases.

For example one client’s office is in a market town about 20 mins drive away. There isn’t a train station, to get there via bus I would need to take 3 buses and set off two hours (assuming all runs exactly to schedule) before. We used to do breakfast meetings at 8. So I would have needed to get a bus before they even start running, not to mention the issue of childcare.

[quote Orangesox]@SimonJT I take it you're not familiar with the roads of Lincolnshire? I recon I could drag myself to Skegness faster than any road or rail transport option [/quote]
Sadly I am, I lived in Nottingshire until I was 17, I have just about recovered from the trauma of visits to Lincolnshire. Never did I think I would find somewhere so like Royston Vasey.

Ah, nottinghamshire, not nottingshire, brain fart. Seems I haven’t recovered from my Lincolnshire trips:

But public Transport won't go everywhere, it just won't. Think of some of those National Trust properties. Lots of them are down some very narrow roads, in very remote places. There is no way the majority of people could get to them without maybe making several changes along the way- by the time you got there you would have to be leaving to come home. So leisure trips would effectively be curtailed for most. It would be a much-less-rich experience of life that we would be forced into.

Thats not nearly enough for families with more than one child. A lot of families have a toddler and a baby, or more and one backpack and pushchair is not enough for a day out at the beach.

I was a single parent with two toddlers. No car. I had a double buggy or a sling and buggy or one buggy and reigns. We still managed to get about and go on holidays and I was fit as a fiddle with all the walking I did.

Seriously, people need to get their heads around the idea that other people don't live in the same little bubbles that they do.

You said it.

We have a big 7 seater suv. We don’t really drive it in London, just when we’re getting out at the weekends or the regular 5 hour drive to my parents with kids, dog, car full of crap. The last time we drove there someone crashed into us (100% their fault) - I could not have been more grateful for our suv. Also it is considerably more fuel efficient than our old fiesta and obviously we only take up one parking space in car parks because we can drive properly...

@HorseChestnutTree

But public Transport won't go everywhere, it just won't. Think of some of those National Trust properties. Lots of them are down some very narrow roads, in very remote places. There is no way the majority of people could get to them without maybe making several changes along the way- by the time you got there you would have to be leaving to come home. So leisure trips would effectively be curtailed for most. It would be a much-less-rich experience of life that we would be forced into.

And not only that, but it'll keep those pesky people with disabilities or any form of additional needs wanting special treatment away from all those hard to reach places to boot. Double bonus apparently as long as it's "for the greater good".

I'm all for improvements to transport networks, provided it doesn't curtail the few bloody freedoms I do have as a person with a disability. But that doesn't matter, because it's just me being selfish or lazy wanting to maintain my current level of independence without some pen pusher or my bank balance deciding my fate.

@penguinsbegin Mine has an electric hoist provided by Motability. I am getting a vehicle next which my electric wheelchair drives into and I drive the car from my chair

There are currently 98,000 SUV's which have been adapted to accommodate wheelchair users

4x4's don't have the same crumple zones as a standard car. So, in an accident a pedestrian is more likely to be seriously injured/killed.

Standard car likely to kill a pedestrian at 40mph, for a 4x4 it's 30mph.

Don't know which category an SUV comes into.

Once people have problems paying for these cars on their PFPs there are going to be far fewer of these.

What would you suggest then @Orangesox and @HorseChestnutTree ?

That people should just be allowed to continue polluting the planet with vehicles as they see fit? We shouldn’t even try and make an effort to reduce car usage?

YABU....

We got an SUV 4x4 earlier this year as we got fed up trying to squeeze everything into our hatchback. When our children are a bit older will probably go back to a hatchback as we won't need such a big car but for now, it's safe, it is more economical than our hatchback and it looks good!