Completely agree. The fact the you can drive a truck down a narrow pedestrian street to deliver a couple of 50x50x30 cm boxes is insane. But there does need to be an exception where people can apply for a permit on a case by case basis for deliveries that are necessary and cannot be brought in any other way.
There are way too many people living in the city right now.
Complete disagree as a matter of principle, and I don't see what one has to do with the other. Much of the traffic in city centers aren't caused by the people living in the city centers, but by people living outside the city wanting to get into the city. I fail to see how Forcing people to spread out into the suburbs will solve the problem. If the city infrastructure cannot handle the people living there, the focus should be on fixing the infrastructure.
The increase in trucks and SUVs is a major reason why pedestrian fatalities has increased so much over the past decade. (Though the auto industry has tried to shift the blame to cell phones.)
But I thought EU rules were pretty strict when it comes to what happens to pedestrians on impact and the Macan isn’t exactly a monstertruck.
Having low speed limits and protected sidewalks (trees, posts) seems like a much better idea.
We also need to grade vehicles on how well they protect pedestrians, cyclists, and occupants of other vehicles, and if they don't pass the tests they can't be sold.
In Europe they have had pedestrian crash testing since 2010. The US does not currently have a standard that I'm aware of. Though because a good amount of cars are global designs, this has influenced the American market. Definitely agree that it should be a consideration everywhere.
> German politicians are demanding regulations to keep large SUVs (sport utility vehicles) out of inner cities
> "We need an upper limit for large SUVs in city centres,”
The article further elucidates:
> Following the incident, several politicians and traffic experts called into question the rising popularity of the vehicles - characterized by their broad shape and several off-road features
So it seems that SUVs are being particularly targeted, seemingly because of their features.
So, looking up the measurements [0], it seems that the Porche Macan is just under 4.7m long and 2m wide. By my standards (Oz) that's a pretty large vehicle!
[0] https://www.automobiledimension.com/models/porsche/macan-201...
That's actually slightly smaller than than, for example, an Audi A4, which most people don't consider a particularly big car.
By my standards (Oz) that's a pretty large vehicle!
When I was in Oz it felt every other car on the road was a huge pickup. You guys sure seem to love your HiLuxes.