Edinburgh SUV owners could be refused parking permits in Green bid to ban 'high safety risk' heavier vehicles

Transport committee agrees to look at how it could discourage or restrict larger and heavier vehicles

SUV owners could be denied a parking permit for their vehicle under a Green bid to ban the heaviest cars from Edinburgh's streets.

The city's transport committee has agreed to investigate steps to discourage or restrict larger and heavier vehicles, using parking permits or environmental orders, amid concerns that they pose a bigger risk to pedestrians and cyclists.

Green transport spokesman Chas Booth told fellow councillors: "It may well be appropriate for a farmer in Fife to have a Land Rover, but it's not appropriate for a banker in Bruntsfield. If they don't also own a farm up in the Highlands, it's not appropriate for them to have a massive great gas-guzzler."

SUVs have been linked to a higher risk of death among pedestrians and cyclists in crashes due to their size and weight.

He said SUVs – sports utility vehicles – had become the most popular type of passenger vehicle, accounting for 40 per cent of the market share across Europe. "There are environmental implications because heavier vehicles tend to have more emissions; there are road maintenance implications because heavier vehicles are much more likely to create potholes; but there are also significant implications for road safety.”

He said pedestrian deaths involving SUVs were increasing at a faster rate than other cars. “In the United States pedestrian deaths are at their highest level for the last 40 years – they have risen 80 per cent since 2009 and a lot of that is due to the heavier and larger vehicles. One analysis shows that the Abraham M1 tank has better visibility – fewer blindspots – than many of the gas-guzzlers currently on our roads ."

In July, two eight-year-old girls died after a Land Rover Defender ploughed into an end-of-term tea party in the grounds of their school in Wimbledon, London. Twelve people, including a seven-month-old baby, were taken to hospital. A group of climate activists called Tyre Extinguishers have targeted SUVs in Edinburgh, deflating tyres and leaving leaflets to explain why. The group want SUVs to be banned in urban areas.

Edinburgh's parking permit system already charges vehicle owners more for cars which emit more CO2 and there is a surcharge for diesel vehicles. Cllr Booth told the Evening News: "I have asked if we could potentially also add surcharge based on the weight and size. There would have to be exemptions for works vans, for example, and perhaps some others. We could start off for the first few years by introducing a levy and then say for heavier vehicles we're not going to give you a parking permit.

"There is a fair amount of evidence to suggest that the larger and heavier a car is, the more it is a risk to vulnerable road users, so I think we need to explore what can we do to make our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists, kids and older people. And if restricting or banning heavier vehicles is part of the way to do that then we should absolutely do that.

"Some people change their cars every three years and I think it's important we send a clear message to people who are doing that: If you live and work in Edinburgh, please consider not choosing one of these really heavy vehicles. If it means we would get safer streets, I would support a ban."

At the committee, Tory transport spokeswoman Marie-Clair Munro defended people's ability to opt for an SV if they wanted. "Somebody's job and how hard they work and what they choose to spend their money on is entirely down to them - that's their house, their vehicle, where they shop. If anyone's listening from Bruntsfield, if you want to buy your SUV, crack on - it's your money, it would just be nice if it was electric."

Afterwards, Labour transport convener Scott Arthur said parking permit charges in Edinburgh were currently tiered according to engine size, but that would have to change with the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and it might make sense to do it instead by weight.

"Over the next decade people will be replacing their diesel or petrol cars with EVs and this would encourage people to think about the weight of them when they are doing that." But he described the move as "a nudge" and said refusing parking permits would not prevent SUVs from driving in the city.