Welsh campaigners call for higher parking charges for certain vehicles

Welsh campaigners have called for higher parking charges for certain vehicles.

Posters have gone up in Cardiff urging residents to sign a petition calling on Cardiff City Council to tackle carspreading by introducing higher parking charges for large SUVs as part of its upcoming parking strategy reform.

A coalition of campaign groups, supported by Clean Cities, has written to the council leader warning that “the unchecked rise of oversized cars is squeezing out space for walking, cycling, and public transport, while also making Cardiff’s streets more dangerous – particularly for children”.

Risk

The campaign group warns that larger vehicles pose a far greater risk to vulnerable road users.

Children are three times more likely to be killed in a collision with an SUV than a regular car, according to a recent study by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

A petition has been signed by over 200 residents to date.

Local resident Helen Edwards, whose teenage son was hit by a car outside their home, is backing the campaign.

She said: “As a parent it’s your worst nightmare to come out of your house and see your child lying in the road.

“We rushed to A&E, where the doctors immediately asked what type of car had hit him.

“The wait to find out if his internal organs were damaged was painstaking – we felt completely helpless.”

Toll

Her son escaped without serious injury – just road rash from being knocked to the ground – but the emotional toll has been significant for all the family.

She said: “I feel so lucky he walked away, but that’s because it was an average-sized car going at 20 miles per hour.

“If it had been a bigger car, or going faster – It horrifies me to think it could have happened. Everyone’s lives could have been ruined.”

Helen added: “Children are being asked to navigate increasingly busy roads filled with ever-larger cars.

“It’s simply asking too much of them to navigate such dangers.”

Around 62% of all new cars sold in the UK are now SUVs. Since 2021, around 4.6 million oversized cars have been sold in the UK, with sales exceeding 1.2 million a year.

A similar action and poster display took place in Edinburgh on Wednesday (September 10) by Transform Scotland, as part of the national carspreading campaign.

Internationally some other cities are already taking action.

In Paris, SUV drivers now pay more to park in the city centre – a measure that has discouraged people from purchasing oversized vehicles.

In the UK, polling shows that 61% of car owners agree SUVs take up too much space – compared with 19% who disagree.

59% say SUVs are unnecessary in towns and cities – compared to 20% who disagree.