Parisians vote in favour of tripling parking costs for SUVs
Parisians vote in favour of tripling parking costs for SUVs
The referendum comes as the city aims to reduce emissions by targeting wealthy drivers in large, polluting cars
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I'm sure the folks who drive larger vehicles because they're hauling things like wheelchairs will protest that.
There ARE valid reasons for SUVs.
There ARE valid reasons for SUVs.
no. not really.
Professionals who need something with storage space for work use vans.
People who need to also transport a wheelchair will use a different car, that is not terribly to get in and out of.
SUVs have 0 reasons to exist, especially outside the US
The prices will apply to vehicles weighing more than 1.6 tonnes with a combustion engine or hybrid vehicles, and more than 2 tonnes for electric vehicles.
Seems like it applies to vans as well
fair enough. But at that point it's basically another business expense.
SUVs don't really do much in the area of "hauling stuff around". They are really really bad at it, if you compare it to normal transporters
I'm not really understanding, what makes the US different in this regard?
Have you been to Europe? Have you walked the streets of Paris? The US was built with enough space being everywhere. American roads are wider, cities are mostly built like square-grids of roads built in a time when cats existed whereas European cities emerged in the middle ages. They're tightly packed with little extra space. Sometimes (very rarely) here there are old Cadillacs that can be rented for weddings. Seeing one of these cars on the street is an unreal experience. They're just so huge. They don't fit on the streets here - and those are cars from the 60s or 70s. Everything seems tiny compared to them. From a European perspective it's really stupid to build such large vehicles as driving and parking it is much more complicated when everything is build for small cars. Now that SUVs are becoming popular here too it's just a really annoying. Less parking space per vehicle etc. On cities like Paris - one of the tightest city on Europe this is just annoying. And i haven't even written about fuel consumption. Paris has had huge problems with smog in recent years.
American roads are wider, cities are mostly built like square-grids of roads
And we're paying for that, too.
The Ugly, Dangerous, and Inefficient Stroads found all over the US & Canada - Not Just Bikes
Why link the paywalled version when it's on youtube?
First video on Nebula is free, and it has no ads.
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I haven't been to Western Europe but I do live in Singapore with roads that I would say are quite narrow and SUVs aren't that rare here either. So I can't say I really understand entirely but I think I do get what you mean.
The US is built more for SUVs than places outside it, so they make a little bit more sense than in places like Paris.
But only a little bit more sense. They're still obnoxious and far too big in the US.
True, lots of places (but I suppose maybe not everywhere) have really wide roads with tons of lanes so it's easy to drive around with SUV's, but this is generally not true in Europe where, even in large cities, often roads/lanes are narrower, making SUV's unwieldy for those driving around them.
Then there's the pollution aspect which I can't address, but I imagine SUV's pollute more on average than other cars (and probably Europe is currently being a bit more stingy on allowing this)
the onyl reason they exist in the US is because a regulations loophole.
The EU doesn't have that loophole, so SUVs don't even have that reason to exist. Which you can see, as SUVs are super rare in the EU, while they top all car sales ranks in the US in the last couple years
SUVs are not super rare in the EU (unfortunately). They are pretty common in cities and cause a lot of accidents.
SUVs and crossovers are most popular cars in Europe.
Here’s a French source, coincidentally: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2023/09/14/suvs-now-dominate-european-car-market_6135326_19.html
Til that model y is a suv.
You didn't notice until now?
Just looks like a slightly raised sedan to me. Shrug
I don't think you are right on SUVs not being a thing here. What is the legal loophole in the US about?
This covers the whole thing in detail, but there are some exceptions to light trucks in the Us that also applies to SUVs for some reason
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People who need to also transport a wheelchair will use a different car, that is not terribly to get in and out of.
A car most likely wouldn't work for many wheelchair users who drive because they essentially need something they can just get them and their chair lifted directly into, lock their wheels down and start driving. But that doesn't require an SUV. A van would work too. That's what a friend of mine in high school drove.
Well, it shouldn't be hard to write in an exemption just for folks with wheelchairs. It's almost a non-issue.
Luckily the bus and subway in Paris are both wheelchair accessible, safe, and easy to use.
Also it's extra squeaky!
How is the Metro wheelchair accessible? When I was there were no elevators or ramps at most smaller stations and the stairways were quite steep.
...Well getting down the stairs wouldn't be a problem.
if you have a wheelchair you get dedicated parking spaces anyway. what's your problem? what are you talking about?
I'm pretty sure disabled driver have free parking.
And those with the proper credentials can be e excepted.
They will be exempted, as well as residents and professionals.
There are also valid reasons for disabled people to be against SUVs, and the abundance of cars in general: pollution creates disabilities, and so much pollution comes from car tyres. I know, because I have a disability that's associated with said pollution, and I wouldn't wish this on anyone else so I really hope we can replace car use with less polluting methods as soon as possible. And then there's the more physical way: cars crashing into people also creates disabilities. If you're disabled, you're probably more likely to have sympathy for all the other disabilities that cars contribute to creating, and would prefer if SUVs and cars were replaced by other methods.
The truth is (at least in the USA), a vast majority of people who own SUVs don't really need an SUV. This video explains it a lot better than I ever could: https://youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo
I would bet that Parisians saw the hell that the USA went through with absurdly large cars and car dependency and wish to prevent that from happening to their city, which this additional fee would help disincentivize.
If you are open to learning more, I highly suggest looking into Strong Towns, which this video series by the same creator does a great job of summarizing: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN69ehUTVa
It shows the issues that many cities put themselves in by depending on cars and proposes ways we can improve our cities for the benefit of everyone (especially the disabled).
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