Carspreading.

When big cars make our cities smaller.

CARSPREADING IS...

taking over our citieS

Cars are getting bigger — about 1cm wider every two years. The thing is, our streets aren’t.

More than half of new cars in the UK are too wide for urban parking spaces, leaving our cities crowded and congested.¹

putting lives at risk

As cars get bigger, so do the risks. People hit by larger cars when walking or cycling are far less likely to survive.²

damaging our planet

Petrol and diesel SUVs burn around 20% more fuel,³ and electric SUVs require more resources and critical battery minerals.

a luxury

The majority of new cars in the UK are expensive SUVs.⁴ Carmakers should prioritise practical and affordable cars instead.

WANT SOMETHING TO CHANGE?

Get involved with our live campaign to demand action on carspreading where you live.

We’re collecting signatures for our petition and inviting people to submit photos showing carspreading in action. Find out more and get involved by clicking the link below.

How do car owners feel about SUvs?

How do we stop carspreading?

Bigger cars take up a lot more space, but the cost of parking has stayed the same.

City leaders should make parking policies fairer by varying costs based on the size of a car.

Check out this helpful toolkit for city officials.

At the national level, government should adjust taxes in favour of lighter and more appropriately sized cars.

There should also be maximum width, length and height limits for new cars. Current regulations allow for cars to be built as wide as a truck.

NEWSROOM

Number of US-style ‘battering ram’ pickup trucks on UK roads has nearly doubled in a decade

Cardiff Council becomes first to tackle SUV carspreading with fairer parking charges

Children demand action as UK research shows SUVs 3 times more likely to kill a child under 10

Car bonnets becoming half centimetre higher every year, driving road safety fears

1 million cars sold every year too big to park; as car owners back higher SUV charges to fix potholes

Rise of ‘Carspreading’: UK car owners say supersized SUVs “not necessary in towns and cities”

In partnership with

Sources:

¹https://www.transportenvironment.org/te-united-kingdom/articles/cars-are-getting-too-big-for-british-roads-new-research-shows
²https://www.vias.be/fr/newsroom/des-voitures-plus-lourdes-plus-hautes-et-plus-puissantes-pour-une-securite-routiere-a-deux-vitesses-/
³https://www.iea.org/commentaries/as-their-sales-continue-to-rise-suvs-global-co2-emissions-are-nearing-1-billion-tonnes
⁴Analysis of Dataforce data by T&E, 2025