Paris Goes After SUVs
Wed Jun 9, 2004
PARIS (Reuters) - Bulky four-by-fours could be banned
from clogging up the chic streets of Paris after a top
official in the capital's left-wing government
described them as a polluting "caricature of a car"
unsuited to city life.
An anti-sports utility vehicle (SUV) resolution passed
by the city council could lead to a ban on the popular
vehicles in about 18 months if it is included in an
overall project to improve traffic flow in the city,
Deputy Mayor Denis Baupin said Wednesday.
"You have to wonder why people want to drive around in
SUVs," Baupin, a Greens party member, said on Europe 1
radio.
"We have no interest in having SUVs in the city.
They're dangerous to others and take up too much
space."
The city council voted Tuesday to urge Socialist Mayor
Bertrand Delanoe to consider banning SUVs, which have
become popular in recent years and now make up about
five percent of the French car market -- just below
the western Europe average.
Baupin said Paris, which has been setting aside more
lanes for buses and bicycles since a Socialist and
Greens coalition took over City Hall in 2001, could
not legally ban SUVs outright.
"Our idea is to limit the circulation of the most
polluting vehicles," he said. "That means SUVs and
lots of other vehicles that don't meet European
pollution standards."
Baupin, who often cycles around Paris to promote more
environmentally friendly transport, called SUVs a
caricature of a car and said they were not adapted for
use in a city.
"It's made for a family on vacation ... and usually
they only have one person in them," he said.
"Let's be logical and only allow into the city cars
that are adapted to it."
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