A group of school children will urge councillors in London to take action to stop ‘carspreading’ as new research shows SUVs are three times more likely to kill a child under the age of 10.
A delegation of children from primary schools in South London will attend a meeting of Lambeth Council today(Wednesday 16 July, 2025, 6.30pm) calling on councillors to introduce new parking charges based on the size of a car to discourage supersized SUVs.
Lambeth Council are reported to be considering introducing higher parking charges for supersized SUVs, which would make them the first council in the UK to follow the lead of Paris in introducing parking charges based on the weight of a vehicle.
The call coincides with a new study which for the first time examines 359,000 road traffic deaths in Britain from police crash data over 20 years to produce a comprehensive analysis of the risk of injury and fatality from SUVs.
It found that SUVs dramatically increase the danger for children. Children aged 18 and younger struck by SUVs had 77% higher odds of a fatal injury than those hit by cars, while young children (aged 0–9) are hit hardest: they are three times more likely to die from a collision when hit by an SUV. [1]
Critically, for policy makers who are considering measures to curb SUVs, the study found that vehicle weight and height both predicted greater injury risk, but not vehicle length.
Dr Anna Goodman, Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and lead author of the study said:
“In the UK, we have seen a huge increase in the sale of ever-larger cars. Our findings highlight that these larger vehicles are particularly dangerous for children, especially young children. This is probably because children are shorter in height, and are therefore more vulnerable to the risks of being hit by vehicles with a tall front bonnet.
“Cities and countries around the world are starting to introduce measures to discourage the use of these large vehicles. Our study strengthens the road safety rationale for such measures in the UK. It also suggests that targeting weight or height will be much more effective than just targeting length.”
Nicola Pastore, a mum of three in Lambeth who set up Solve the School Run said:
“Every day I worry about my children’s safety just walking to school. The rise in massive SUVs on our streets has made a simple journey feel dangerous. Parents shouldn’t have to feel this way. It’s time councillors stepped up with bold, coordinated action to protect children and reclaim our neighbourhoods.”
London Assembly members have passed a motion calling on the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, to urge London boroughs to consider higher parking charges for larger vehicles. [3]
Labour Assembly Member Elly Baker, who proposed the motion, argued that London’s streets were not designed for large cars like SUVs, which now make up a third of vehicles on the road.
“Their size, weight, and high bonnets increase risks to pedestrians and cyclists, reduce parking space availability, and cause more road damage,” she said.
Supersized SUVs reduce drivers’ vision of other road users – and can entirely compromise it. Drivers behind high bonnets can fail to see children as old as nine in front of them, for example, when leaving a driveway or parking space. At junctions, compromised vision increases crashes, particularly when turning. Poor vision may also lead to more near-miss incidents, burdening all other road users with higher risks and increased danger. [4]
To tackle the phenomenon known as ‘carspreading’, campaigners are calling for fairer taxes in favour of lighter and more appropriately sized cars and for parking costs in cities to be based on the size of a car. These measures form part of the manifesto from the SUV Alliance, which includes Solve The School Run, Mums for Lungs and Clean Cities.
(Pic: Crispin Hughes)
