Parisians vote in favour of tripling parking costs for SUVs

Lee Duna@lemmy.nz to World News@lemmy.world – 540 points –
Parisians vote in favour of tripling parking costs for SUVs
theguardian.com
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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

I'm not really understanding, what makes the US different in this regard?

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

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

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.

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.

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if you have a wheelchair you get dedicated parking spaces anyway. what's your problem? what are you talking about?

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.

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.

They will be exempted, as well as residents and professionals.

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).

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.

And those with the proper credentials can be e excepted.

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