Transport
Bigger SUVs cause 30% more deaths
Over 300 families bike past Westminster to highlight dangers of SUVs ‘carspreading’.
26 March 2025
Since 2021, around 4.6 million cars have been sold in the UK that are bigger than a typical urban car parking space – more than 1.2 million a year, with numbers growing.
This is according to researchers at Clean Cities, a European network of organisations calling for healthy and climate-friendly transport in cities.
Supersized SUVs, which are either more than 1.8m wide or 4.8m long, have been growing in popularity – despite the fact they crowd out space in towns and cities, cause more road wear and are more likely to cause fatal injuries for children, cyclists and those driving smaller cars.
If you were to add up just the extra length and width that overhanging SUVs take up, it would stretch over 192 miles, the equivalent of driving from London to Leeds.
‘Cars are getting bigger every year – while our streets are not. We need carmakers to prioritise normal-sized cars that can be parked more easily and are less dangerous to people walking around. It’s only fair if you want to buy a massive SUV that you should expect to pay more for the space it takes up.’
OLIVER LORD
UK head of Clean Cities
To tackle the phenomenon known as ‘carspreading’, campaigners are calling for fairer taxes in favour of lighter and more appropriately sized cars and for parking costs in cities to be based on the size of a car.
According to a YouGov poll commissioned by Clean Cities, when asked how the money raised from additional charges on SUVs should be spent, the most popular measure for car owners was to fix the millions of potholes (54%) on Britain’s roads, which increase danger and repair costs for motorists and cyclists.
This was followed by spending on safer roads (40%) and better public transport (36%). Only 19% said there should be no additional measures for SUVs.
Harriet Edwards, a concerned parent from Sutton said, ‘It’s not just the added stress of not being able to find somewhere to park, it’s the sense that if I’m involved in a collision with one of these giant SUVs, that me and my family are far more likely to be seriously hurt or killed. If you cause more danger, create more potholes and take up more parking space, it’s only fair that you pay a little bit more.’
A new UK academic paper shows that heavier cars are more likely to be involved in fatal collisions, and average car weight in the UK is increasing.
This may lead to a rise in fatal collisions if the trend continues, the academics warn.
Reducing car weight could mitigate the severity and frequency of collisions; the academics suggest that policy-makers could consider ‘taxation on heavier cars’, and that ‘local authorities could adjust parking policies to charge higher fees for heavier cars’.
The study, led by civil engineer Ruth Carlson with a co-author from the University of Huddersfield, is based on preliminary findings, with the full paper out later this year.
New taxes could reap significant rewards for HM Treasury and the Department of Transport. As well as the additional revenue, discouraging sales of heavier cars could reduce road maintenance costs.
According to ‘the fourth power law’, a formula developed by US Highway Officials, the damage done by a vehicle to a road surface is proportional to the fourth power of its axle weight.
A two-tonne SUV therefore does 16 times more damage than a one-tonne car.
The potholing of road surfaces is even worse when it rains because heavier vehicles create much stronger hydraulic pressure, forcing water into any flaws and breaking up the road surface.
Figures from the RAC show drivers encounter an average of six potholes per mile in England and Wales.
The cost of pothole damage to vehicles is around £500 on average, with more severe repairs costing considerably more. According to the AA, fixing potholes is a priority for 96% of drivers.
AA president Edmund King is on record saying: ‘Better maintenance of the road network is the number one concern of drivers as damage costs a fortune and potholes can be fatal for those on two wheels.’
According to the YouGov polling, 61% of UK passenger car owners agree that ‘SUVs take up too much space’, while only 19% disagree. 71% of car owners also agree that SUVs make parking more difficult, while only 15% disagree.
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