Faehrmann’s support for higher parking fees for big vehicles comes as Yarra City Council in Melbourne prepares to vote this week on a proposal to “consider proportionate parking fees based on a vehicle’s size”.
Yarra Greens councillor Sophie Wade’s motion said the increasing size and weight of vehicles such as Ram trucks and the Land Rover Defender pose dangers to pedestrians including children,who are “eight times more likely to die when hit by a SUV compared to a normal passenger car”.
Wade’s motion also said larger cars are more polluting and have a greater climate impact.
“If SUVs were a country,they would rank as the sixth-most polluting in the world,” it said.
Parisians last monthvoted to triple parking fees for large SUVs to €18 ($29.65) an hour for the first two hours,compared to €6 an hour for smaller cars.
Faehrmann said big SUVs take up space and are more dangerous to other road users,including pedestrians and cyclists,whether they are electric or not.