Sydney is the latest Australian council to debate the need for higher parking fees on SUVs and large utes.
Greens councillor Mathew Thompson brought a motion to the 7 April Sydney City Council meeting to investigate increasing parking fees due to the danger to other people, climate emissions and maintenance costs of larger, heavier vehicles.
“SUVs and luxury trucks are killers. They are far more dangerous than normal passenger cars and pose increased risks to pedestrians, to cyclists, and other road users, with children eight times more likely to die when hit by one,” Cr Thompson said during debate.
“Here’s a frightening fact, we don’t have minimum safety standards for pedestrian protections for vehicles sold in Australia.
“We have no minimum standard to protect kids walking to school, to protect families crossing the road, to protect cyclists on our busy roads.”
Cr Thompson cited the success of a referendum in Paris to triple parking fees and said Yarra City Council in Victoria was investigating increasing parking fees and other tools to disincentivize unnecessary use of larger vehicles.
The Motorcycle Riders Association provided support for the motion leading into the debate as they said oversized vehicles were a hazard to vulnerable road users.
The only other councillor to support the motion, Sylvie Ellsmore, said families in particular were worried about the danger of oversized cars that can weigh up to 3 tonnes.
“Even if this motion does not get support tonight I want to flag we’re going to bring something similar back again and that’s because there is so much support,” Cr Ellsmore said.
The motion was voted down by the council but it sounds like this is the beginning of the debate, rather than the end.
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