In Switzerland, a debate is raging about how broad the roads in the country should be in the future. As SUVs are increasingly on the road, the lanes are now too narrow, argue government and professionals. Even trucks would have increased in the cross.
"If the vehicles get wider, the road must be wider, otherwise the risk of accidents increases," said Jean-Marc Jeanneret, President of the Association for Transport Professionals Switzerland (VSS) the "Tages-Anzeiger". His association is currently revising the standard for road widths. The VSS is supported by the Swiss Federal Roads Office.
In parking garages it gets tight
Every third vehicle registered in Switzerland was already an SUV in 2016 according to the report. The nearly two-meter-wide GLC is currently the most popular Mercedes, BMW's top seller is the X1. Volkswagen fans already buy almost as many tiguanas as golf in Switzerland.
At an average of twelve inches, the average new car has grown according to a study by the Duisburg car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer since the early nineties in the width. Individual vehicles have already cracked the two-meter mark - like the Cadillac Escalade (2.06 meters). That's why it's getting tight in many parking garages.
The experts now want to spend ten to 50 centimeters more space on Swiss road users. Currently, national roads between 3.25 and 3.75 meters are given for a road, mountain and city streets are often narrower. By adapting to many conditions, lorries would have better conditions, but also SUVs would have room for maneuver, for example when overtaking.
Conflicts with cyclists through narrow streets
This would also reduce conflicts with cyclists, emphasizes a spokesman for the importers association Auto Schweiz. Bike paths are often only marked with a dashed line on the road. The result: the wider the cars, the more likely it is conflicts.
Excited, the Swiss Greens respond to the thrust. "If you now make the streets wider and thus meet the SUV, that comes a capitulation to the climate goals the same," said the deputy Aline Trede newspaper "20 minutes".
Sharp criticism also comes from security experts. "The accident risk would have increased significantly, because wider lanes lead to faster driving," says BFU spokesman Marc Kipfer in view of a first, initially failed advance of the VSS for more asphalt.
However, given the heated debate, the experts will probably not have the last word in the matter. In the end, a political decision would be necessary, it was said in the Social Democrats, who put the head of government this year.