Australians have been outraged by a driver’s selfish act of parking, reigniting calls to increase parking fees for owners of US-style vans.
A photo posted on Reddit on Sunday of a giant GMC van taking up two spots at Burwood Brickworks in Melbourne’s east sparked outrage.
Fed up with these giant vehicles, many angry drivers are demanding drastic measures.
Some Australian councils are investigating the possibility of charging drivers of large vehicles more to park their cars.
A photo posted on social media on Sunday of a giant GMC van taking up two spots at Burwood Brickworks in Melbourne’s southeast sparked outrage.
Yarra City Council voted unanimously last month to investigate the issue.
Greens councilor Sophie Wade said yahoo It was intimidating to share the road with larger vehicles.
“We have streets that simply weren’t designed for these types of vehicles,” he said.
“They are narrow, we have a lot of pedestrians, cyclists, shoppers in busy shopping areas, a lot of children going to school and daycare.”
“It’s stressful to have these big, giant vehicles coming at you.”
NSW Greens transport spokesperson Cate Faehrmann said “the size of SUVs is getting ridiculous” and backed measures to discourage their use if they are not really necessary for work.
“Large SUVs are taking up a lot more space on the road, even when parked, so if higher parking fees cause some drivers to take the train or cycle, then let them do so,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Countries around the world have tackled the issue head-on and introduced policies to combat the rise of oversized vehicles.
Paris residents voted earlier this year to charge SUVs three times the cost of street parking in the city center compared to full-size cars.
Drivers of large utes and SUVs could soon be paying higher parking fees as councils look to emulate a controversial policy introduced in Europe. The photo shows a ute taking up three parking spaces.
A giant American ute is shown taking up more parking space than it is allotted.
“Parisians have made a clear decision… other cities will follow in their footsteps,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Drivers across Australia are hoping councils will follow the French example.
Social media users reacted enthusiastically to the photo of the van in the Melbourne shopping centre.
One described the giant ute as a “pull tank” and a “penis extender”.
Another made a rather drastic suggestion: “Take the air valves off the tires.”
While another was very blunt in his response: “I hate those damn Utes so much.”