Kenneth Glad
The appetite for larger cars is colliding with concerns over safety, pollution and public space. The question facing cities is whether private vehicles should keep receiving priority on crowded streets.
Europe’s dependence on cars is under renewed scrutiny as road deaths, fuel costs, emissions and street design become harder to separate.
In 2024, 19,934 people were killed on EU roads. One of them was Andreas Mandalka, a 44-year-old German cycling advocate who had spent years documenting unsafe driving and poor cycling conditions in Baden-Württemberg, writes The Guardian.
His death has been cited by cycling advocates as part of a broader argument over whether roads are being planned fairly for people outside cars.
“It’s not about taking anything away from anyone,” said Mandalka’s friend Siegfried Schüle. “It’s just about giving everyone the same freedom – even if they don’t have a driver’s licence – to move safely.”
Why weight matters
The British newspaper, citing International Council on Clean Transportation data, reports that average vehicle weight in Europe has increased since 2010 by 9 percent for combustion cars and 70 percent for battery-electric cars.
In tight urban streets, that extra size is not just a matter of taste. Larger vehicles take up more parking space, can make it harder for drivers to see pedestrians and cyclists, and often require more energy to move.
The trend also raises an affordability problem. If electric vehicles keep growing larger and more expensive, the move away from petrol and diesel could become harder for many households to join.
Lucien Mathieu of Transport and Environment told The Guardian: “Europe is at a crossroads.”
He said the continent faces a choice between affordable compact electric cars and the “mega SUVs and monster trucks” normally associated with the United States.
The politics of space
Some European cities have tried to reduce car dominance by expanding cycling routes, improving public transport, limiting polluting vehicles and charging more for larger cars to park.
Such measures remain politically sensitive. London’s ultra-low emissions zone drew strong opposition, while Paris votes on school streets and heavier-car parking charges passed with low turnout.
For critics, that is the double standard: Leaving a large private vehicle on a public street is treated as routine, while removing parking for a bike lane can quickly become a political fight.
As cars grow larger, cities are being forced to decide whether streets should be designed around the biggest vehicles on them, or around the people most exposed to them.
Source: The Guardian
