In Australia, North Sydney Council recently voted in a plan to double parking fees for gas-guzzling four-wheel drives. Closer to home, The Alliance Against Urban 4x4s, with members from several environmental groups in the city, is calling on Manchester City Council to follow the antipodean example. Members of the Alliance were out on the streets in mid-March collecting signatures to show the level of public support for such a move, and issuing fake parking tickets to 4x4s, listing reasons why such vehicles are unsuitable for cities. Over 3/4 of those surveyed agreed with doubling city centre parking charges for 4x4s.
According to the Alliance, a large off-road vehicle such as a Land Rover Discovery burns double the fuel of a conventional car such as a Ford Mondeo, thus producing double the amount of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that contributes towards climate change, and double the amount of ground level pollution that leads to asthma and other respiratory problems, particularly in children and the elderly. According to the "New Scientist" magazine, 4x4s also pose double the danger to pedestrians: hit by a 4x4, pedestrians are twice as likely to be killed compared with being in collision with a conventional car.
Alliance spokesperson Dave Coleman commented, "The vast majority of the public shares our concerns about these dirty and dangerous vehicles and want to see something done about them. We are calling on the City Council to take action to ensure that 4x4 drivers pay a fair price for the damage they are causing to the health of our residents and the environment in which we all live. Our message is simple: large off-road vehicles in our cities are responsible for double the pollution and double the danger, so they should be subject to double the parking charges."
Dave Coleman, Alliance Against Urban 4x4s (07801 495781)
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