Lewisham Council is set to review its parking policies as part of a broader effort to address concerns surrounding the safety implications of larger vehicles, particularly SUVs.
Councillor Corinne Ashwell, Cabinet Member for Environment, Nature, Transport and Climate Action, acknowledged the concerns, stating that the council needs to explore measures to disincentivise the use of these vehicles. She highlighted the inherent dangers that the height and the size of them can create,
noting that People who own them feel safe in them but it's those around them who are endangered.
It's getting ridiculous,
Councillor Ashwell commented. These vehicles that are towering above 10-year-old children are just not really the sort of vehicles we should be encouraging on our roads.
Discussions touched upon potential solutions including parking policies, weight-based parking fees, and even restricting access for vehicles exceeding a certain size. Councillor Ashwell expressed openness to a range of ideas, stating, I think there's a whole, I'm open to a whole range of things we can do to address that. I mean, maybe, you know, things around parking, weight-based parking with some exemptions for EVs of course because they are inherently heavier. That might be something we need to look at and, yeah, maybe even reducing access to vehicles over certain size. They're all, you know, these are all ideas that I'm amenable to as long as, you know, we develop them in responsible ways so they become ideas that have taken into account all of the possible unanticipated consequences.
The increasing height of car bonnets was also highlighted as a serious safety concern, with one participant noting, I think it's a centimetre a year or similar.
Statistics suggest a higher risk of fatality in collisions involving SUVs. Councillor Suzannah Clarke noted the example of Paris, which has implemented measures to address SUVs, suggesting Lewisham could learn from such initiatives.
An equality issue was also raised, with concerns that if somebody can afford an extremely expensive car that protects them from death, while somebody else who can't.
Further details on the council's discussions can be found in the Public reports pack for the Sustainable Development Select Committee meeting on 2nd July 2026.
