‘Carspreading’ to wipe out around 10% of on-street car parking spaces across the UK

Key stats:

• ‘Carspreading to wipe out roughly 1 in 10 on-street spaces across the UK.

• London and other major cities risk losing up to 14% of on-street parking if car sizes keep increasing by 1.2 cm annually

• ‘Ever bigger’ cars trend could kill 400 more road users annually by 2040, compared to ‘right-sizing’ scenario across the UK & EU.

• By 2040, 40% more child pedestrians could be killed a year in collisions compared to ‘right-sizing’ across the UK & EU.

Cities are facing an unprecedented threat to urban space as the growing trend towards larger SUVs risks eliminating vast numbers of parking spaces. Cars have been getting steadily bigger for decades -longer, wider, and with higher bonnets- even as family sizes and car occupancy have declined, leaving vehicles taking up more room while carrying fewer people.

New analysis from T&E UK and Clean Cities finds that, if current trends continue, ‘Carspreading’ could cut on-street parking capacity by between 8.5% and 14% by 2040, with London alone set to lose approximately 100,000 spaces.

The report shows this is being driven by a sustained increase in vehicle size since 2000: newly sold cars are getting longer by 1.2 cm each year, while height, width and bonnet height are all rising by around 0.5 cm annually. Despite shrinking family sizes and falling car occupancy, carmakers have shifted away from smaller models in favour of larger, more profitable vehicles, accelerating the squeeze on urban space.

Anna Krajinska T&E UK Director said, ‘Car manufacturers have spent decades pushing large expensive cars at the expense of smaller models. After 25 years of relentless growth, our streets are dominated by oversized SUVs that cities simply weren’t designed for. The result is a lose-lose: councils are forced to reshape streets around larger vehicles, sacrificing parking capacity, public space and safety in the process. This is a market failure. Without clear standards to limit car size and encourage right-sizing, carspreading will continue unchecked, and cities will keep paying the price.”

But the impact goes far beyond parking spaces.

The rise of ever larger SUVs, could lead to around 400 additional road deaths annually by 2040 across the UK & EU, compared to a ‘right-sizing’ scenario. It projects a growing gap in deaths of vulnerable road users -pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and moped users.

Specifically, under the current trajectory, 40% more children walking could be killed in car crashes by 2040 compared to vehicle right-sizing. Rising bonnet heights, which are projected to reach a fleet average of 86.2 cm by 2040, pose a particular risk to children. While adult pedestrians would most likely be hit in the vital organs or torso in crashes, children run a higher risk of being struck in the head or chest.

Oliver Lord, UK Director of Clean Cities said: “How many more reports are needed, or kids killed until the car industry stops pedalling massive and unnecessary SUVs? Carspreading is fast becoming a public health crisis. The relentless increase in the size of cars is not just stealing public space, but also making our streets more dangerous. There’s no way city leaders can continue to turn a blind eye to this problem - whether traffic congestion, parking stress or road deaths - they must act now.”

But what is ‘right sizing’ and how can we put those policies in place?

To combat the threats to urban space and safety, T&E UK and Clean Cities are calling for immediate policy changes to shift the UK car market towards safer, more efficient and compact models:

• Introduce a Large Vehicle Levy, a tax paid on purchase of a vehicle that is determined by its weight, ensuring that larger, oversized cars pay their fair share.

• A bonnet height cap of 85cm, and a car width limit of 192cm, applied to new type approvals from 2033 and all new cars sold from 2036.

• Tighter vehicle standards: Euro NCAP needs to urgently update its protocol to start testing for the visibility of young children from the driver’s seat;

• City action: reform parking charges and local taxes based on vehicle size and weight.