Fighting Giants

Despite mounting evidence that the age of private car dominance is waning, our streets tell a different story. Towering, heavy, and emissions-intensive vehicles—SUVs—are flooding the roads. What is behind this shift, and what can be done to reverse it?

Modern sport utility vehicles (SUVs)—often marketed as fortresses on wheels and symbols of strength, security, and status—have become the dominant presence on today’s urban roads (Cozzi & Petropoulos, 2024). Their appeal lies not in fulfilling genuine mobility needs, but in projecting an illusion of control, and protection—one with significant and far-reaching consequences.

As their popularity grows, so does their impact on the environment, public safety, and urban infrastructure. Paradoxically, this rise is occurring just as cities are striving for cleaner air, safer streets, and more sustainable transport systems. With private car ownership and reliance in gradual decline and mobility patterns shifting, automakers have turned to promoting larger, heavier, and more resource-intensive vehicles to preserve profit margins.

This market shift brings with it a host of challenges: from compromised road safety and increased emissions, to higher infrastructure costs and deeper urban inequalities. What began as a response to changing consumer patterns has evolved into a structural obstacle to sustainable, equitable mobility.

The safety illusion

Transport mix in Brussels, Turgut Kartal

A significant body of research has highlighted the safety implications of oversized cars for all road users. While the most comprehensive studies have come from the United States—where SUV adoption is more advanced—similar patterns are now emerging in Europe, underscoring the global spread of this trend.

The data paints a grim picture:

• SUVs are safer for their occupants but not for other motorists: According to a VIAS study from 2023, in a collision between a 1,600 kg SUV and a 1,300 kg car, the risk of fatal injury decreases by 50% for the occupants of the heavier vehicle but increases by nearly 80% for those in the lighter one.
• The proliferation of SUVs leads to a self-perpetuating circle: As perceived road risks grow, individuals often respond by purchasing ever-larger vehicles. This so-called ‘arms race’ has dramatic consequences: for every life saved by switching from a car to a light truck, an estimated 4.3 additional fatalities occur among other road users.
• Pedestrians and other road users cannot take part in this ‘arms race’ and are the first to pay the price for it: Between 2009 and 2018 in the United States, pedestrian fatalities rose by 53%, even as all other traffic deaths declined by 2%. This reversed years of progress in road safety and brought pedestrian fatalities to their highest level since 1988.

Several factors make SUVs particularly hazardous: their greater crash impact force, reduced visibility due to larger blind spots, and elevated front-end designs, which are more likely to cause fatal injuries in collisions with pedestrians. Research also suggests that SUV drivers may engage in riskier behaviour, driven by a false sense of security and dominance on the road.

A growing concern

Reducing CO2 emissions from the mobility sector has become a major political focus for European countries in recent years. Strict pollution standards have been imposed on car manufacturers, and alternatives such as hybrid and electric vehicles have been actively promoted.

However, the SUV trend seems to be reversing much of the progress made over the past decade. In fact, if SUVs were excluded from the data, the global car sector would have produced 75 megatons less CO2 in 2018 compared to 2010. According to an analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA), SUVs alone were responsible for an increase of 544 megatonnes of CO2 globally.

SUVs now emit approximately 700 megatonnes of CO2 annually. To put this into perspective, if SUV drivers constituted a country, they would rank as the seventh most polluting nation in the world.

SUVs are often equipped with powerful, fast-reacting engines to match their off-road image. Combined with their heavy weight, this results in significantly higher emissions. Weight also contributed to brake emissions—heavier vehicles generate more brake dust, a major source of fine particle emissions.

Selling the illusion

SUV advertising has become a growing concern, with significant resources funnelled into promoting these vehicles. In 2019, 42% of car ad budgets in France targeted SUVs, while Ford had shifted 85% of its U.S. ad spending to SUVs and trucks by 2018. These campaigns often tap into themes like freedom, identity, and adventure, framing SUVs as essential lifestyle enhancers.

However, research shows that many of the SUVs advertised as a means to escape to go off-road rarely leave the city. A study conducted in the UK found that ‘three-quarters of new SUVs in the UK are registered to urban addresses. Even for the largest, heaviest class of SUVs—which are more likely to have genuine four-wheel drive and off-roading capability—two-thirds are bought by people living in towns and cities’.

Critics argue that such ads promote artificial consumer needs. Advocacy groups like Adfree Cities and Badvertising are challenging SUV ads as misleading and environmentally harmful. For example, Adfree cities helped successfully ban a Toyota ad deemed ‘environmentally irresponsible’. According to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), the ruling was the first of its kind.

France has even passed laws requiring ads to include eco-friendly messages and plans to ban ads for high-emission vehicles in 2028. These developments highlight increasing scrutiny and a broader shift toward regulating car advertising for environmental and societal reasons.

Citizens’ response

Alongside these regulatory shifts, a grassroots movement is also gaining traction.

In Europe, several activist groups have emerged in opposition to SUVs, citing environmental harm, urban safety risks, and excessive resource consumption. One such group is Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) in Germany, which has submitted applications in over 300 towns and cities demanding restrictions on SUVs in urban areas.

The Tyre Extinguishers are among the most direct-action groups, deflating SUV tires—often using lentils to press the valve stems—in urban areas across Europe to discourage ownership and use of large, high-emission vehicles.

Badvertising, a UK-based campaign, targets the advertising industry by pushing for bans on ads promoting SUVs and other high-carbon products. The group replaces public SUV ads with spoof versions that highlight the environmental and social costs of these vehicles.

These groups use guerrilla-style tactics to spark public debate and apply pressure on policymakers and industries to phase out SUV promotion and usage, positioning their actions as part of a broader movement for climate and urban justice.

The only place to see a bear in Brussels is in an ad depicting bears running after an SUV through the forest, Dominique Rael

Where policy stands

Several European cities, particularly in France, Germany, and the UK, have introduced or are exploring local policies to address the rise in large vehicles like SUVs.

In 2024, Paris tripled parking fees for SUVs following a low-turnout referendum. The policy exempts residents and low-emission vehicles and is justified on the basis of traffic safety and pollution. Lyon and Grenoble implemented similar fee policies tied to vehicle weight, with Grenoble also citing infrastructure wear and tear.

In Germany, Tübingen increased residential parking fees based on vehicle weight, though legal constraints limit similar policies for non-residents. Freiburg attempted a length-based fee system, which was later overturned by federal courts.

In the UK, Edinburgh banned ads for high-carbon products, including most SUVs, citing environmental and health concerns. The Advertising Standards Authority has also taken action against misleading SUV ads, as mentioned in the previous section.

Most of these policies differentiate between internal combustion and electric vehicles, often allowing higher weight limits for EVs—though the justification for this is not always clearly communicated. While legal and public resistance remains a challenge, such initiatives are more common in cities with progressive leadership. Environmental impact and safety risks are the main justifications, while spatial concerns and advertising bans are less frequently addressed.

Shifting perspectives

While reliance on private automobiles is expected to decline in the coming decades, the paradoxical rise of larger and heavier vehicles—largely driven by profit motives—presents serious challenges for cities. These include undermining road safety, worsening climate impacts, and straining the urban infrastructure.

SUVs may offer increased protection to their occupants, but this comes at a cost to other road users and contributes significantly to CO2 emissions globally. Meanwhile, misrepresentative advertising campaigns fuel unrealistic aspirations and unsustainable consumption patterns.

Though citizen-led and policy responses are beginning to emerge in Europe, they remain fragmented and often face legal or political obstacles. Confronting the rise of oversized vehicles will require not only stronger regulations but also a broader cultural shift in how urban mobility is understood, marketed, and governed.

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About the authors: 

Dominique Rael, Master student, MSc Urban Studies, VUB/ULB. Rael is an MSc Urban Studies student at VUB and ULB in Brussels, interested in mobility, urban planning, greening, housing, and youth development. He has volunteered with Belgian NGOs, including Molembike, teaching cycling skills to women and children, Kidical Mass, supporting safe rides for kids and their families, and Heroes for Zero, promoting pedestrian safety.

Timothée Bonnet, Master student, MSc Urban Studies, VUB/ULB. Bonnet attends the MSc Urban Studies at VUB and ULB, focusing on urban mobility, infrastructure, housing, and communication. With a background in European political science, he has worked in local politics, including roles at a training body for elected officials, the mayor’s cabinet in Joinville-le-Pont, and Ile-de-France Mobilités. 

Turgut Kartal, Master student, MSc Urban Studies, VUB/ULB. Kartal is an urban researcher, currently pursuing an MSc in Urban Studies at VUB and ULB with an interest in mobility, heritage, and participatory governance. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from Boğaziçi University, he has worked as a part-time social researcher and volunteered in the urban mobility working group of the Istanbul City Council’s youth branch.