It’s a vote and a proposal that hasn’t finished generating much ink. Indeed, Paris City Hall wants to change its parking policy. She wants to put to a vote a “very significant increase” in parking rates for SUVs and SUVs in non-residential spaces. According to the city, the proposal addresses issues of safety, shared use of public space and pollution.

List of SUVs that will be affected by the increase in parking rates

According to the Paris city hall, the SUV is a vehicle that pollutes the environment more, consumes much more and is more dangerous in the event of a collision compared to a standard car. To distinguish a “standard” car from an SUV, the city hall decided to use the argument of weight. This applies to all diesel locomotives or hybrid vehicles weighing more than 1.6 tonnes and electric vehicles weighing more than 2.0 tonnes. Everyone will decide for themselves… In the meantime, here is a detailed list of SUVs in question:

Bad SUVs

The most revealing example and the most covered in various media is the case of the Peugeot 3008. Indeed, in the thermal version, the Peugeot 3008 passes through drops, as it weighs less than 1.6 tons. On the other hand, in the plug-in hybrid version, the batteries exceed the 1.6 ton threshold. This version will therefore have to pay more for parking if Parisians vote for it on February 4. A big joke, because in the hybrid version, the 3008 consumes and pollutes less than its brother with a simple heat engine. And such examples are legion.

If the pollution argument is hard to accept, there remains the safety argument. To find out whether SUVs cause more fatal accidents in France, we need to compare the change in the number of road deaths. As you know, on the website of the Paris City Hall it is written:

So if heavy vehicles are more dangerous and cars gain weight over three decades, there should be a lot more fatal accidents on our roads! Well, it’s quite the opposite. If we go back to 1990, like Paris City Hall, according to the National Interministerial Observatory on Road Safety, 10,289 people died there (within six days of the accident). On the other hand, in 2022, 3,267 people lost their lives on French roads (within 30 days of an accident), again according to the National Interministerial Observatory of Road Safety. The reduction in fatalities, in particular, is due to the significant progress made in active and passive safety.

It will not affect voters!

As we have already specified, the vote will be reserved for Parisians. Parisians who will not be affected by this proposal of Paris City Hall, well, not really. The increase in parking rates will not affect residential parking. This measure will only apply to visitors who are not residents of Paris and whose SUV weighs more than the prescribed limit, as well as to residents of Paris and those who lead a sedentary lifestyle outside the parking area. An event that will not drive away the big Parisian SUVs!

How to apply it?

The last point concerns the application of the measure. At first glance, the latter is simply unsuitable! How to identify cars that exceed the permissible weight? Will we have to rely on the good faith of people who themselves indicate that they own an irregular vehicle, or will we have to link parking meters to the file of the registration document? We don’t see in what world Paris City Hall will be able to force this price increase.

We remind you that voting is scheduled for February 4. Then we’ll see if Parisians want “fewer SUVs” in Paris.

To be continued…

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