SUVs are getting wider, outgrowing roads and parking spaces in these countries

The global craze for SUVs shows no sign of slowdown. Large boxy SUVs are witnessing rapid growth in demand and sales across the world. Interestingly, while the world of automobiles is thriving towards zero-emission mobility by introducing various cleaner and greener powertrain technologies, the rising demand and sales of fossil-fuel-run SUVs are offsetting the benefits coming from electric vehicles and other cleaner fuels. At the same time, SUVs are creating another trouble in the urban environment.

A study by Transport & Environment (T&E) has revealed that SUVs are increasingly becoming wider, outgrowing roads and eating away parking spaces across Europe. The problem is more prominent in the old cities across the continent, where roads are narrower. The study has revealed that in densely packed European cities, where streets are narrower and finding parking spaces is difficult, the growing size of SUVs is causing friction and problems. The study also claims that on average, new passenger vehicles in the continent have been growing wider by about 10 mm every two years, encroaching on space that could be used by other road users. This is causing trouble for traffic management in European cities.

The study has further called for regulatory intervention from the European Union. It stated that without regulatory intervention from the EU, this trend may persist, leading to increasingly crowded and hazardous conditions for pedestrians and cyclists on the city roads.

Currently, the maximum permitted width for all vehicles in the European Union is 2,550 mm. This law was enforced in the mid-90s to limit the size of buses and trucks. However, it acts as a loophole for the car manufacturers to produce SUVs and pickup trucks that are too big and don't fit in the standard public vehicle parking space. The study shows some SUVs are as wide as 2,039 mm, occupying a large chunk of the road.

The study suggests that lawmakers should review the maximum size of passenger vehicles to protect public space from being encroached. Besides that, passenger vehicles' size and especially height are crucial for road safety, as the higher hood of the SUVs pose a greater threat to pedestrians or cyclists. In a study conducted by the Vias Institute in Belgium between 2017 and 2021, it was revealed that raising a vehicle’s hood by 100 mm increases the risk of fatality in collisions with pedestrians and cyclists by a whopping 30 per cent.