Enlarge image
SUV in Munich: "SUVs in which two tons of metal move 70 kilograms of people through the city are absurd."
Photo:
Wolfgang Maria Weber / IMAGO
The left-wing chairwoman Janine Wissler speaks out in the debate about car traffic in cities with a controversial proposal. It aims to ban vehicles weighing more than two tonnes. If Germany wants to achieve its climate goals, cars should not keep getting bigger and heavier, Wissler told SPIEGEL.
“We are calling for the registration weight of new cars to be limited to two tons, although there must of course be exceptions for specific needs such as vans and camping vehicles,” Wissler continued. "SUVs in which two tons of metal move 70 kilograms of people through the city are absurd."
Wissler's proposal is based on a decision in Paris to make parking for SUVs more expensive. “Paris has sent a clear signal against SUVs in the city centers,” said the Bundestag member. Over 40 percent of all new registrations in Germany are now SUVs. »These city tanks are flooding the streets and bringing even more stress to the inner cities. They protrude into cycle paths, often require two parking spaces and accidents are fatal more often than with other cars.
However, at least in Berlin and Brandenburg, there are no plans to emulate Paris in this respect. The German city and municipality is also against such an approach. This is not a blueprint for Germany, says Managing Director André Berghegger.
The citizens of Paris recently voted in a referendum to drastically increase parking fees for heavy cars - to 18 euros per hour. Only just under six percent of those eligible to vote took part in the vote, of which 54.5 percent were in favor of the plans.