Is your automotive too large for Britain’s roads? Models that outgrew areas

Half of latest automobiles 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 12 months 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 extensive 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 very fact passenger automobiles are rising in measurement, saying the growth is to enhance crash safety for occupants. They say the change to EVs with bigger battery packs can be extending the size of the most recent automobiles.

Our infographic beneath reveals how well-liked new fashions measure up in opposition to parking areas in Britain, and reveals how the width of automobiles has grown from 2000 to at this time.

We’ll additionally inform you easy methods to rapidly and simply discover the size of your automotive so you may measurement it up in opposition to a median parking bay. 

Half of latest automobiles too extensive for on-street parking bays 

T&E’s examine discovered that the common width of latest automobiles (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 automobiles offered in 2023 had been already too extensive for the minimal 180cm on-street parking house in main UK cities. 

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

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

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

Only Germany had wider new automobiles 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 current years, SUVs have overtaken household hatchbacks to develop into the second hottest automobile sort within the UK – and are solely marginally outsold by small automobiles annually.

Exclusive new automotive 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 knowledge reveals that two in 5 (39.5 per cent) of all new passenger automobiles getting into the highway had been superminis and metropolis automobiles.

While they nonetheless stay essentially the most generally bought new automobiles at this time, 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 function’ sports activities utility autos represented solely 11 per cent of the market. 

But a growth in demand in recent times has seen SUVs overtake household hatches to develop into the nation’s second hottest automotive 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 technology 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 standard automobiles in favour of SUVs – offered within the UK was 4.1cm wider in comparison with the 12 months earlier.

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

London-based luxurious automotive seller 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 strain on roads from competing makes use of’. 

Its report stated: ‘The pattern in direction of wider autos is lowering the highway house obtainable for different autos and cyclists, whereas parked automobiles are additional encroaching on footpaths. 

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

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

She says that is significantly the case on slim rural lanes or on residential streets with numerous parking, which frequently sees these on bikes ‘bullied off the highway to make approach’. 

Are new automobiles too large for grocery store parking areas?

Another current examine stated the rising measurement of latest automobiles is making parking an more and more troublesome process for Britons.

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

Car house owners are being left with virtually no room to squeeze out of their automobiles in public automotive parks, which have house sizes which have remained constant because the Seventies.

A comparability of autos on sale in 2020 and related automobiles from 50 years earlier confirmed that some motors have expanded by as a lot as 55 per cent and massive SUVs now taking over virtually 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) extensive 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 automotive park operators are free to designate their very own bay measurements.

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

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

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

In distinction, the Seventies mannequin took up simply 69 per cent – the identical footprint as at this time’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 technology 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 provides 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 stated.

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

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

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

The marketing campaign group has known as for a overview 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 remains 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 automobiles – which must also be regulation for EU markets – ought to be launched from 2030 to forestall passenger automobiles taking over extra road house.

Some 3 per cent of latest automobiles offered within the first half of final 12 months had been wider than 192.1cm, which T&E stated ought to be set as a brand new most restrict. 

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

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

Cycling UK seconded T&E’s strategy.

Sarah McMonagle stated: ‘We want authorities motion to cease motor producers fuelling our dependancy to ever extra overweight automobiles. 

‘Bigger automobiles will not be higher, they’re much less sustainable, make our roads extra harmful, and take up more room, growing congestion.’