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September 11, 2025
Campaigners call for higher parking charges for large SUVs to make Cardiff’s streets safer for children
September 11, 2025
A petition has been signed by 200+ residents to date.
Striking new posters have gone up in Cardiff urging residents to sign a petition calling on Cardiff City Council to tackle carspreading by introducing higher parking charges for large SUVs as part of its upcoming parking strategy reform.
A coalition of campaign groups, supported by Clean Cities, has written to the council leader warning that “the unchecked rise of oversized cars is squeezing out space for walking, cycling, and public transport, while also making Cardiff’s streets more dangerous – particularly for children”.
Evidence shows that larger vehicles pose a far greater risk to vulnerable road users, children are three times more likely to be killed in a collision with an SUV than a regular car, according to a recent study by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
A petition has been signed by 200+ residents to date.
A parent’s perspective
Local resident Helen Edwards, whose teenage son was hit by a car outside their home, is backing the campaign.
“As a parent it’s your worst nightmare to come out of your house and see your child lying in the road. We rushed to A&E, where the doctors immediately asked what type of car had hit him. The wait to find out if his internal organs were damaged was painstaking – we felt completely helpless.”
Her son escaped without serious injury – just road rash from being knocked to the ground – but the emotional toll has been significant for all the family.
“I feel so lucky he walked away, but that’s because it was an average-sized car going at 20 miles per hour. If it had been a bigger car, or going faster – it horrifies me to think it could have happened. Everyone’s lives could have been ruined.”
Helen added:
“Children are being asked to navigate increasingly busy roads filled with ever-larger cars. It’s simply asking too much of them to navigate such dangers.”
The action today responds to the frightening growth in SUVs on our streets. Around 62% of all new cars sold in the UK are now SUVs. Since 2021, around 4.6 million oversized cars – too big for a standard urban parking space – have been sold in the UK, with sales exceeding 1.2 million a year.
A similar action and poster display took place in Edinburgh yesterday, Wednesday 10th September, by Transform Scotland, as part of the national carspreading campaign.
Internationally some other cities are already taking action. In Paris, SUV drivers now pay more to park in the city centre. The measure has not only proved effective at discouraging oversized vehicles but has also been popular with the public. According to reports in Le Parisien, the tripling of the parking rate for “heavy” or SUV-type vehicles in Paris has already made it possible, according to the City, to reduce by two thirds the number of SUVs using surface parking.
In the UK, polling shows widespread concern:
- 61% of car owners agree SUVs take up too much space (vs 19% who disagree).
- 59% say SUVs are unnecessary in towns and cities (vs 20% who disagree).
Notes to editors
- Joint letter to Huw Thomas at Cardiff Council from Clean Cities Campaign, Cardiff Cycle City, Green Squirrel, Living Streets Cymru, Transport Action Network and Healthy Air Cymru.
- Petition to Cardiff council calling for higher parking charges – live until 15th September.
- YouGov SUV Survey results tables: You Gov Polling on SUVs and Carspreading 2025.xlsx – Google Sheets
- Study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found that children under ten are three times more likely to be killed in a collision with an SUV than with a regular car.
- Research by Transport & Environment (T&E) shows that a 10 cm increase in bonnet height raises the risk of death in a collision by 27% for pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
- Transform Scotland held a similar public engagement event to tackle Carspreading with a poster installation and Vox pops in Edinburgh on Wed 10th September 2025.
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