IF YOU’VE FOUND parking your car is getting harder, you’re not imagining it. New cars in Ireland grew 2.4cm wider in five years, with some of the most popular models now so large they have just a few centimetres to spare in many parking spaces.
Campaigners say legislation is urgently needed to halt the trend for ever wider cars, which is making roads and footpaths unsafe and hostile for cyclists and pedestrians.
Irish drivers seem to be particularly fond of bigger vehicles, with new cars here spanning 181.1cm on average in 2020, exceeding the EU average of 180.2cm.
That’s according to data from the International Council on Clean Transportation research organisation and the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), which sees 180cm as a key threshold as it is the minimum on-street parking space size in many European countries.
Ireland breached the 180cm threshold for new cars as long ago as 2017.
Some of the most popular car models now are significantly wider again, including the Volkswagen ID.4 at 185.5cm wide (excluding door mirrors) and the Nissan Qashqai at 183.9cm, both among the top 10 bestsellers last year.
Medium SUVs such as these dominate the new car market in Ireland, accounting for almost a third of sales, data from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry shows.
Although large SUVs account for only 4.87% of the market, this segment’s share is growing steadily year on year, having stood at just 3.21% in 2018.
Several SUVs are over 2 metres in width, including the BMW X5 and X6 and the most popular Land Rover model, the Range Rover Sport. Electric cars are also part of the trend, with Kia’s recently launched new fully electric model, the EV9, just under 2 metres wide.
Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan said the increase in sales of large SUVs was “incredibly worrying”.
Hourigan said the trend towards ever bigger cars was dangerous for pedestrians because the vehicles were more difficult to manoeuvre and had more restricted sightlines. They can also cause worse injuries in the event of a collision with a pedestrian.
Cars are being sold to be bigger and bolder to protect the person in the car, but that is more dangerous for the person on the street.
“In Europe, we care about pedestrians. Elon Musk’s Cybertruck must not be sold here,” Hourigan said, adding that Ireland must work with the EU on this issue.
T&E claims that EU legislation as it currently stands will not prevent SUVs expanding as far as 255cm – the current legal cap on widths for buses and trucks – within a few years. This in turn would push the average new car width to around 2 metres, corresponding to the width of the largest SUVs available today.
In Ireland, many on-street car-parking spaces are less than 2 metres wide, meaning larger cars have just a few centimetres to spare and, unless parked right against the kerb, can often bulge out into the street.
James Nix, a campaigner at T&E, said: “The increase in car width is non-stop.
Ever-wider SUVs are crowding out other road users.
“Cycling is at risk if this trend is let continue because a further erosion of passing distance has stark safety implications on a rising number of roads and streets.”
T&E has called for a review of the maximum width limit on cars, crossovers, SUVs, pick-ups and vans to “protect public space from further encroachment” – including footpaths, roadway and adjoining parking spaces.
It has warned that ever-wider SUVs pose a safety risk as increased width enables the height of vehicles to be further raised.
“Vehicle fronts raised by 10cm carry a 30% higher risk of fatalities in collisions with pedestrians and cyclists,” T&E said.
Hourigan noted that SUVs were being driven not only as work vehicles in rural locations but rather on “urban streets”, often with only the driver on board.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say