Norman Baker MP Member of Parliament for Lewes constituency
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Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
Email: info
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Four Wheel Drive Vehicles
When I launched my campaign to encourage a more responsible use of 4x4 vehicles I confess I was completely unprepared for the enormous response this has generated, most of it positive.
These vehicles were once the preserve of farmers and off-road enthusiasts, but are now to be found everywhere. Indeed, many never leave Tarmac or gather the faintest hint of mud. Increasingly, they are marketed directly to wealthy urban dwellers as status symbols, expressions of wealth, tools to fight your way through the "urban jungle", in the phrase of one ad. "Threaten men in your office in a whole new way," another reads. But one person's fashion accessory or personality aid is someone else's problem. The 4x4 drivers may feel safer up high, but cyclists and pedestrians in particular, and other car users, feel intimidated when a big box on wheels bears down on them.
This is especially true in historic towns such as Lewes, my constituency, with its narrow streets, effectively walled, single-track lanes, and some with no pavement. It is not pleasant to be pinned against a stone wall by an oblivious 4x4 driver on her way to Tesco's.
Those outside the vehicle are right to feel vulnerable. The Institute of Advanced Motorists this week advised: "Drivers who opt to take heavy 4x4 vehicles on the school run should appreciate that their weight and size does raise road safety issues. They need to be particularly careful when they are around vulnerable road users because of the vehicles' weight, the higher centre of gravity and handling characteristics."
Even the RAC admitted that a 4x4 was "probably not the best vehicle for getting around town". In America, the 4x4s they call sport utility vehicles or SUVs, are the subject of a heated debate. There, the latest figures suggest SUVs are responsible for three times the number of deaths, compared with normal cars in accidents.
And they take a heavy environmental toll. Even in the US, public pressure has forced Ford to withdraw their gigantic Excursion after it was unofficially named the Ford Valdez, after the tanker that ran aground in Alaska, causing dreadful environmental damage. And luminous stickers have appeared on SUV bumpers, with slogans such as, "I'm changing the climate. Ask me how".
I think there is a public mood which is unhappy about 4x4s. A friend in Sussex who uses her 4x4 for the school run rang me to say, only half in jest, that, yes, she did feel guilty and she ought to be banned from using her vehicle for frivolous purposes.
Well, a ban, hugely impractical and illiberal, is not a runner. We need to pressure makers to take a more responsible approach to advertising. Out should go talk about urban jungles; in should come an approach which sells the vehicles for what they are, off-road utilities.
The best weapon is, unusually for environmentalists, a change in the climate of opinion. We need owners to ask themselves if it is necessary to use a 2 1/2-ton, 22-gallon tank vehicle to pop out for a box of tea bags. And we need the rest of us to let them know that to use their fashion accessory in this way is actually a bit naff.
Following the massive public response to Norman's comments on 4x4 vehicles, Norman wrote a full report on 4x4s (September 2003) which is available here.
Full Report on 4x4 vehicles (Microsoft Word Document)