Paris decides whether to restrict SUV vehicles, which sell as much as they pollute

After having opposed electric scooters in 2023, the 1.4 million Parisian voters are called to the polls this Sunday to rule on another mobility issue: should we restrict SUV vehicles, the best-selling vehicles on the market, but especially polluting?

The socialist City Council of Anne Hidalgo proposes up to tripling the parking fee to put a stop to large SUVs and off-road vehicles, classified as up to 20% more polluting than sedans, which are an equivalent model, by the International Energy Agency (IEA). ).

Added to this pollution, caused both by emissions from increased consumption and by fine particles from braking, is the danger, according to the City Council.

“Insurers tell us that a pedestrian is twice as likely to suffer a serious accident with an SUV than with a classic vehicle (….) In 15 years, cars have increased considerably in size“, ecological councilor Fréderic Badina explained to EFE.

SUVs, an acronym that comes from the English Sport Utility Vehicles, are experiencing a golden age in the European market.

In France alone, 40% of new cars sold are of this type, but they weigh on average 200 kilos more than an equivalent conventional vehicle and are also longer, wider and taller. Its defenders seek interior comfort and safer driving thanks to the greater visibility provided by the height of the car.

“With this consultation we also want to send a message to car manufacturers who are increasingly manufacturing larger vehicles,” denounced Badina, a specialist in mobility issues at the Paris City Council.

The councilor stressed that “space pollution” from SUVs is as condemnable in the city as air or noise pollution. The referendum includes large vehicles: thermal or rechargeable hybrids weighing more than 1.6 tons and electric vehicles weighing more than two tons.

“We, environmentalists, would have liked to go further and set the limit at 1.4 tons, because manufacturers make many small SUVs.“Acknowledged Badina, who said that his group will fight for stricter regulations that cover most of these types of cars.

If Parisian voters say yes, the parking rate for SUVs will triple to 18 euros per hour for those who park in the radius from central Paris to the 11th arrondissement; and 12 euros in the case of the area between districts XII and XX.

“There will be some exceptions, such as parking for residents or for certain professionals“, explained Badina, who explained that the western area of ​​Paris, the wealthiest, is the one with the largest vehicles.

The proposal has sparked opposition from professional organizations such as the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises.

The president of that organization in Paris, Bernard Cohen-Hadad, considered “inadmissible“this measure considering that it will be a brake on economic activity and asked the Parisian City Council to extend the exceptions”to practically all professional activities“, according to what he said in statements to Le Parisien.

Currently, the City Council classifies health professionals, delivery workers and taxi drivers as groups that can benefit from more advantageous parking rates.

Paris, which has about 2.2 million inhabitants, is surrounded by a periphery that totals another 10 million and a good part of them commute to the capital daily, many of them by car.