SUV flood in German cities: The DUH calls for measures against oversized vehicles
SUV flood in German cities: The DUH calls for measures against oversized vehicles
increasing number of SUV vehicles leads to applications for higher parking fees and parking restrictions in another 174 cities
Deutsche Environmental Aid (DUH) has made formal applications in 174 other cities to take measures against the increasing number of oversized SUV vehicles. This campaign is followed by the applications in 150 cities already submitted in June, to which thousands of additional inquiries were included in the DUH. In total, more than 21,000 people asked the DUH to submit applications in their cities. The DUH's demands include the introduction of staggered parking fees, depending on the size of the vehicles, as well as increased controls and punishments of abusive parking behavior, such as fines or the towing of the vehicles.
In some cities, the demands of the DUH have already been met. As a second city, Aachen announced a significant increase in fees for residents parking cards depending on the vehicle size. The Duh's hands-on campaign, which was launched in February 2024 immediately after the groundbreaking citizens' decision against SUV in Paris, already shows initial success.
The increasing number of oversized SUV vehicles is a danger to all road users, burdens the environment and the climate and takes up valuable space in our densely built-up inner cities. Jürgen Resch, Federal Managing Director of the DUH, emphasizes that our city centers threaten to suffocate through these vehicles. On request, the DUH has submitted applications to thousands of citizens in a further 174 cities to take effective measures against this flood of SUV vehicles. A legal opinion shows that there are a variety of measures that can be used by cities to solve the SUV problem. So far, however, only a few cities have made use of these options. The municipalities therefore ask the DUH and thousands of people to act. Monster SUV vehicles with a length of over 5 meters have no place in our cities.
The DUH calls on the cities to implement the following measures, the legally secure feasibility of which has been confirmed in a legal opinion:
- Consistent punishment of false parking and exceeding the park marks through fines and/or towing
- Expansion of marked parking spaces to enable an orderly and space -saving park
- Extension of parking space management measures and increasing the residential park fees to at least 360 euros per year, depending on the vehicle size
- increase in short-term parking fees per hour to the level of a single ticket in public transport in order not to favor driving compared to bus and train driving
- exceptions should continue to apply to traders and in social hardship cases
The additional income from the higher parking fees should be invested in the expansion of local public transport, in cycle and sidewalks as well as in compensation solutions for low-income households.
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