Is your automobile too large for Britain’s roads?

Half of latest vehicles offered in Britain are too large to suit into parking bays.

That’s the warning from inexperienced marketing campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) this week, which calculated that new fashions offered within the UK are rising 1cm wider each two years.

It new report discovered the common width of a brand new motor offered in Britain final yr was 180.3cm with the wing mirrors folded – or 200cm with the mirrors out. That’s wider than than the common on-street parking bay in main cities like London, that are simply 180cm throughout.

T&E additionally fired a broadside at a breed it dubs ‘mega SUVs’ – that are 200cm large on common, or 220cm together with their wing mirrors – accusing them of being so broad that they’re bullying cyclists off the highway.

Manufacturers have defended the actual fact passenger vehicles are rising in measurement, saying the enlargement is to enhance crash safety for occupants. They say the change to EVs with bigger battery packs can be extending the dimensions of the newest vehicles.

Our infographic under exhibits how in style new fashions measure up in opposition to parking areas in Britain, and exhibits how the width of vehicles has grown from 2000 to immediately.

We’ll additionally let you know easy methods to shortly and simply discover the size of your automobile so you’ll be able to measurement it up in opposition to a median parking bay. 

Half of latest vehicles too large for on-street parking bays 

T&E’s examine discovered that the common width of latest vehicles (not together with the wing mirrors) expanded by 2.5cm between 2017 (177.8cm) and 2023 (180.3cm).

It says greater than half of latest vehicles offered in 2023 had been already too large for the minimal 180cm on-street parking house in main UK cities. 

This is making legally parking giant and luxurious SUVs unattainable – and can lead to fines if the automobile is outdoors the designated white strains.

Historical information held by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) relationship again 20 years exhibits that this has been an ongoing pattern.

Its most up-to-date market evaluation exhibits that the common new automobile offered in Britain has gotten 1cm wider each two years relationship again to 2000.

Only Germany had wider new vehicles on sale than the UK in 2023, T&E’s examine claimed. 

Green campaigners have pointed the finger on the elevated availability and recognition of SUVs.

In latest years, SUVs have overtaken household hatchbacks to grow to be the second hottest automobile sort within the UK – and are solely marginally outsold by small vehicles annually.

Exclusive new automobile market evaluation by This is Money confirmed simply how a lot SUV gross sales have accelerated in Britain within the final decade in opposition to different passenger automobile varieties.

Back in 2013, official registrations information exhibits that two in 5 (39.5 per cent) of all new passenger vehicles coming into the highway had been superminis and metropolis vehicles.

While they nonetheless stay probably the most generally bought new vehicles immediately, they represented only one in three (30.4 per cent) registrations in 2023 – and it’s the SUV that is consuming into their market dominance.

A decade in the past, ‘twin objective’ sports activities utility autos represented solely 11 per cent of the market. 

But a growth in demand lately has seen SUVs overtake household hatches to grow to be the nation’s second hottest automobile sort, making up 28.6 per cent of all registrations.

The T&E report recognized sure examples as having grown considerably, together with the brand new era Land Rover Defender being 20cm wider than the previous 4×4, and BMW’s X5 rising 6cm within the final six years.

In 2023, the common new Volvo – a model that’s ditching typical vehicles in favour of SUVs – offered within the UK was 4.1cm wider in comparison with the yr earlier.

The widest SUV at the moment offered within the UK – although in very restricted numbers – is the electrical Hummer EV.

London-based luxurious automobile supplier Clive Sutton is importing the electrical beast for UK prospects – although with a width of 230cm, it’s half a metre too thick to slot in an on-street parking bay in cities like London. 

T&E believes these hulking Chelsea tractors are ‘piling but extra stress on roads from competing makes use of’. 

Its report mentioned: ‘The pattern in the direction of wider autos is decreasing the highway house accessible for different autos and cyclists, whereas parked vehicles are additional encroaching on footpaths. 

‘The wider designs have additionally enabled the peak of autos to be additional raised, regardless of crash information displaying a 10cm improve within the top of auto fronts carries a 30 per cent greater threat of fatalities in collisions with pedestrians and cyclists.’ 

Sarah McMonagle, director of exterior affairs at Cycling UK, agreed, saying drivers of the most important SUVs on the highway are sometimes those that are ‘most prone to move individuals biking extra carefully than these driving narrower ones’. 

She says that is significantly the case on slender rural lanes or on residential streets with a lot of parking, which regularly sees these on bikes ‘bullied off the highway to make method’. 

Are new vehicles too large for grocery store parking areas?

Another latest examine mentioned the rising measurement of latest vehicles is making parking an more and more tough job for Britons.

This is as a result of the standard parking house at a grocery store or multi-storey automobile park has remained unchanged for half a century. 

Car house owners are being left with nearly no room to squeeze out of their vehicles in public automobile parks, which have house sizes which have remained constant for the reason that Nineteen Seventies.

A comparability of autos on sale in 2020 and related vehicles from 50 years earlier confirmed that some motors have expanded by as a lot as 55 per cent and massive SUVs now taking over nearly 90 per cent of a parking house.

Parking pointers have not modified in 50 years, with the requirement for public bays to be 8 toes (2.4 metres) large by 16 toes (4.8 metres) lengthy.

The British Parking Association says that these dimensions are ‘neither minimal nor written in tablets of stone’ and councils and automobile park operators are free to designate their very own bay measurements.

However, it stays the most typical measurement used to make sure a most quantity of parking areas. 

While this may need been ample for mainstream autos within the Nineteen Seventies, it’s beginning to put a squeeze on twenty first century drivers.

In probably the most excessive instance, automobile shopping for platform CarGurus discovered {that a} 2020 Range Rover takes as much as 86 per cent of an ordinary automobile park bay, leaving simply 21cm of room for drivers to get out. 

In distinction, the Nineteen Seventies mannequin took up simply 69 per cent – the identical footprint as immediately’s Ford Focus.  

The Honda Civic is one other that’s taking over much more parking house.

Today’s mannequin fills 71 per cent of a standard-sized bay, ballooning from 49 per cent within the first era from 1972.

The Mini is one other substantial grower. Today’s is 55 per cent bigger and taking over 20 per cent extra of the everyday parking house than the unique that was produced between 1959 and 2000. This means it gives 16cm much less room for drivers to get out.

The Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 Series, Ford Focus, Ford Mondeo, Mercedes E-class, Peugeot 308, Vauxhall Insignia and VW Passat have additionally all grown considerably in comparison with their 50-year-old equivalents to go away drivers with lower than 30cm house to exit the automobile, the report mentioned.

Campaigners name for passenger vehicles to be no wider than 1.9 metres 

T&E needs to see Government intervention to limit new vehicles rising in measurement.

Currently, new fashions offered within the UK are topic to the identical 255cm most width as buses and vans. 

The marketing campaign group has known as for a evaluate to be carried out about these guidelines earlier than Britain’s streets are overcome with extreme autos.

It went on to say that the UK’s laws round automobile width continues to be that inherited from pre-Brexit EU guidelines – and subsequently might be reviewed independently by the UK Government. 

It says a mandated width restrict for vehicles – which must also be regulation for EU markets – must be launched from 2030 to forestall passenger vehicles taking over extra road house.

Some 3 per cent of latest vehicles offered within the first half of final yr had been wider than 192.1cm, which T&E mentioned must be set as a brand new most restrict. 

Richard Hebditch, director for T&E UK, mentioned: ‘The pattern of vehicles getting wider has been progressing for many years and that pattern will proceed till the UK units stricter limits. 

‘Currently we permit new vehicles to be as large as vans. This has meant our roads at the moment are dwelling to large SUVs and American model pick-up vans which can be parking on our footpaths, endangering pedestrians and cyclists and making everybody else on our roads much less protected.’

Cycling UK seconded T&E’s method.

Sarah McMonagle mentioned: ‘We want authorities motion to cease motor producers fuelling our habit to ever extra overweight vehicles. 

‘Bigger vehicles aren’t higher, they’re much less sustainable, make our roads extra harmful, and take up more room, rising congestion.’