>Multistorey car parks in particular provide challenges to growing car sizes, as they are not easily adaptable and rebuilding is too costly.
They literally have to just repaint the bays to be larger. What they mean is that the challenge is getting the same amount of profit out of less spaces.
Seems a reasonable concern and the start of a push towards a two-tier system of vehicle ownership that incentivises smaller vehicles.
All of the vehicles the article lists are premium / luxury models and brands *(BMW i5, i7, Jag I-Pace, LR Discovery, Merc S-Class etc.).*
> Campaigners have questioned why drivers need such large and dangerous cars in the city, particularly when dropping children off at school
Presumably not a rhetorical question: Because these brands are more comfortable, more spacious, offer a superior driving position etc. etc.
Not that that justifies members of the public vandalising them.
> More than 40% of annual car sales in the UK today are SUVs, compared with less than 20% a decade ago.
Presumably that also includes more ‘budget’ models like the Nissan Juke and Qashqai – some of the most popular cars in the UK… maybe crossovers too like the Ford Puma.
To address the extra infrastructure needed for accommodating larger vehicles, there is an argument for charging those motorists more to e.g. park in parking facilities. If you have to lose parking spaces to build bigger bays, those users are paying “the same for more”. It’s a bit like charging horribly obese people more to travel on planes because they’re spilling over their seats.
Easy solution for me. Have bays of differing sizes and pay for what you need. Why should a fiat 500 pay the same to park as a Range Rover? It takes up far less space.
It’s high time that governments step in and start regulating the maximum size of SUVs and other light trucks. These vehicles are far more dangerous for vulnerable road users, are even more space inefficient than other vehicles, and cause unnecessary wear and tear on road infrastructure. They have no place in cities.
It’s about time some regulation into these monster SUVs was put in place. The UK is not built for such tanks and never has been. These large vehicles cause additional wear to the roads, are a danger to other smaller road users and the height of them means the modern LED headlights blind oncoming traffic easily. They are an arms race for bigger and more showey cars that the UK should be well aware of to avoid.
I was parked in a multi story carpark last week and on both sides of me were really long, huge cars. I was trapped in the space and had to do about an 11 point turn to get my (family hatchback) out of the space. Pretty annoying 🥴
6 comments
As much as I hate the ever growing size of cars:
>Multistorey car parks in particular provide challenges to growing car sizes, as they are not easily adaptable and rebuilding is too costly.
They literally have to just repaint the bays to be larger. What they mean is that the challenge is getting the same amount of profit out of less spaces.
Seems a reasonable concern and the start of a push towards a two-tier system of vehicle ownership that incentivises smaller vehicles.
All of the vehicles the article lists are premium / luxury models and brands *(BMW i5, i7, Jag I-Pace, LR Discovery, Merc S-Class etc.).*
> Campaigners have questioned why drivers need such large and dangerous cars in the city, particularly when dropping children off at school
Presumably not a rhetorical question: Because these brands are more comfortable, more spacious, offer a superior driving position etc. etc.
Not that that justifies members of the public vandalising them.
> More than 40% of annual car sales in the UK today are SUVs, compared with less than 20% a decade ago.
Presumably that also includes more ‘budget’ models like the Nissan Juke and Qashqai – some of the most popular cars in the UK… maybe crossovers too like the Ford Puma.
To address the extra infrastructure needed for accommodating larger vehicles, there is an argument for charging those motorists more to e.g. park in parking facilities. If you have to lose parking spaces to build bigger bays, those users are paying “the same for more”. It’s a bit like charging horribly obese people more to travel on planes because they’re spilling over their seats.
Easy solution for me. Have bays of differing sizes and pay for what you need. Why should a fiat 500 pay the same to park as a Range Rover? It takes up far less space.
It’s high time that governments step in and start regulating the maximum size of SUVs and other light trucks. These vehicles are far more dangerous for vulnerable road users, are even more space inefficient than other vehicles, and cause unnecessary wear and tear on road infrastructure. They have no place in cities.
It’s about time some regulation into these monster SUVs was put in place. The UK is not built for such tanks and never has been. These large vehicles cause additional wear to the roads, are a danger to other smaller road users and the height of them means the modern LED headlights blind oncoming traffic easily. They are an arms race for bigger and more showey cars that the UK should be well aware of to avoid.
I was parked in a multi story carpark last week and on both sides of me were really long, huge cars. I was trapped in the space and had to do about an 11 point turn to get my (family hatchback) out of the space. Pretty annoying 🥴