Our cities weren’t built for monster SUVs. Why are we letting them take over?

25 March 2025, 09:49

When you drive, take the bus, or walk, you may have noticed cars are getting bigger – 1cm wider every two years according to researchers at T&E.

We call it ‘carspreading’ – the millions of SUVs too big for our towns and cities.

If you’re trying to squeeze through a gap in traffic or despairing because you can’t park, that feels frustrating.

But it is also really dangerous.

People hit by larger cars when walking or cycling are far less likely to survive, according to a study of 300,000 cars. And new cars are 400kg heavier than seven years ago.

That means more potholes: a heavy SUV does 54 times the damage to a road as a small hatchback, according to a formula developed by US Highway Authorities. Fewer potholes would improve safety for cyclists, reduce insurance costs for drivers and cut the repair bill for taxpayers.

Now no-one would buy a car they thought would be more likely to injure or kill a child.

On Sunday, hundreds of families were in central London for a bike ride to say politicians should act. The ride brings together grassroots organisations including IBikeLondon, Streets for Kids, and Solve the School Run. The global Kidical Mass movement last year saw 200,000 people take part in mass bike rides.

A new SUV Alliance is calling for local councils to introduce parking charges where bigger cars pay a fairer share, and a review of vehicle tax to account for the damage from oversized cars.

The car industry is out of step with its customers. According to our polling, a majority of UK car owners think that SUVs “are bought more as status symbols than for practical use”, “make parking more difficult” and are “not necessary in towns and cities”.

Yet towns and cities are where most SUVs are bought.

Parisians voted to bring in progressive parking policies, so the larger the car, the more it costs to park. This has led to roughly two thirds fewer large SUVs parked in the city centre. Parking policies in the UK already differ for more powerful engines, so how about size? Isn’t that fair?

In the meantime, if you’ve spotted this trend in your town or city, then help us by sharing a picture on social media using #carspreading and ask your local councillors what they are going to do.

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Oliver Lord is the UK Head of Clean Cities Campaign.

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