Large SUVs Could Be Banned From Paris In Proposed Law

Picture a Parisian car, and the first thing you think of will probably be a Peugeot 205 or Renault Twingo with severe panel damage. Much like the rest of the world, though, the French capital is embroiled in a growing love affair with the SUV, with jacked-up cars apparently now constituting a quarter of privately owned cars in Paris.

It seems the city’s Socialist Party mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has had enough, because she’s set to table a draft law that would place a blanket ban on combustion-powered cars weighing over 1.7 tonnes, and EVs over two tonnes, from entering the city.

It’s the latest anti-car measure by the city, which has suffered from traffic-choked streets for decades, as it aims to reduce pollution, congestion and traffic accidents and promote walking, cycling and public transport.

Most recently, a roughly two square mile area in the city centre has been subject to a complete car ban, although there are exemptions for people travelling for work and, because it’s France, shopping and going to restaurants.

Last month also saw large SUVs subject to new parking fees in the city centre of €18 – around £15 – per hour in the city centre; three times the charge levied on smaller cars.

Hidalgo and former deputy mayor and current Paris Senator, Ian Brossat are pushing this latest law. It comes in the wake of a road rage incident between a cyclist and the driver of a Mercedes SUV, which resulted in the cyclist being killed when the driver ran him over in what French courts have deemed a deliberate move.

According to The Times, Brossat, a Communist Party member, said: “There are doubtless rural regions in which this kind of car is needed. It’s that in a city like Paris, which is the most densely populated in Europe, we do not need this type of vehicle.”

Should it be passed, the law would affect nearly every large SUV on the market, although the number of Parisians affected would be comparatively small – only around 30 per cent of the city’s citizens own or lease cars, and only around 25 per cent of these are SUVs, some of which likely fall below the 1.7-tonne threshold. It’s not clear if non-SUVs weighing over the threshold could be affected too – could the new 2.4-tonne BMW M5 also find itself banned from the French capital?

The law must get past France’s largely conservative national Senate before it’s able to be enacted, but per The Times, similar legislation is set to be tabled with the more powerful and politically diverse National Assembly.