Sadiq Khan may give up armoured car as part of clampdown on SUVs in London | London
London Mayor Sadiq Khan signaled that there would be restrictions on the use of SUVs in London, and said that he would encourage the Met to give up the armored vehicle and prefer a smaller vehicle.
Khan and Transport for London are considering options to tackle the increasing number of SUVs on London’s roads, including surcharges on oversized vehicles, primarily to address concerns about road safety but also parking and congestion.
The mayor said: “If you look at what the preliminary evidence is, large SUVs are more likely to kill a child.”
Although Khan says he does not own an SUV, on official business he is often accompanied by bodyguards in a large police vehicle for security reasons.
The mayor said: “Yes, of course I have an armored vehicle. But if that’s the evidence, I think that’s a message I’ll send to the police as well; in fact, as you realize, I’ll say, God forbid, if you hit a child in an SUV, you’re more likely to kill that child.”
“Everyone needs to think about this. And not just ordinary Londoners, but also the police.”
Speaking at the launch of the updated Vision Zero plan to eliminate road deaths in east London, Khan said any policy would only be recommended after further “detailed analysis” and he did not want to undermine the outcome.
But he added: “But I do know that if you’re a child hit by a large SUV, you’re 77% more likely to die; if you’re under nine, you’re three times more likely to die. That’s a concern to me.”
The mayor said he had also instructed TfL to consider the “impact on the circuit” of SUVs, particularly in relation to congestion. “There’s been a huge increase in the number of people buying and driving these big SUVs in London. There’s not a lot of farm or off-road driving in London,” he said.
Khan added that the consequences of more SUVs could “certainly” include London’s bus network slowing down and vehicles becoming too wide to pass through narrow streets.
He said: “Parking spaces are smaller than these larger SUVs. This causes huge difficulties. For example, we know that some of our side roads are not wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other, especially if one of them is a larger SUV.”
“Often in car parks a large SUV will take up more of its allocated space. So these are real-life consequences. London is not designed for large SUVs.”
Lilli Matson, TfL’s head of safety, health and environment, said they were collecting evidence but there was a worrying trend of disproportionately fatal crashes involving SUVs.
Part of the work will be to create a definition for SUVs, with vehicle weight and dimensions likely to be taken into account. Manufacturers have increased the size of the average car but it is understood TfL and the council will not target smaller SUVs such as the popular Nissan Qashqai and will focus only on the largest models.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), an industry lobby group, said the measures could “unfairly penalize” some drivers.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Every car sold in the UK, regardless of size, is certified to stringent safety and pedestrian protection standards… Manufacturers are also investing billions in advanced safety technology.
“Selecting certain cars by size restricts consumer choice and unfairly penalizes many drivers who need a larger vehicle for basic mobility.”
Tackling SUVs is one of 43 measures in the safety plan, and Matson said cutting speed limits would be the most critical. “Lowering speeds on London’s roads and getting people to obey speed limits will make a really significant difference, not only to saving lives but also to making London feel safer and more like a city you want to walk and cycle in,” he said.
Top speeds on London’s remaining fastest outer roads, such as the North Circular, will change from a default of 40 mph to a default of 40 mph in all areas where there are side roads, bus stops or housing.
