The popularity of the 4×4 or ‘sports utility vehicle’ (SUV) has increased massively over the past 20 years. However, due to the obvious correlation between the size of the engine, the weight of the car and the amount of fuel required, there has been a backlash against these vehicles and their drivers, due to what some groups see as the disproportionate amount of pollution the vehicles are responsible for.
Activist groups such as the French ‘Les Dégonflés’ (http://www.wikipedia.org/), the Brussels Flagadas (the Deflators), and “The Indians of the Concrete Jungle” in Stockholm have taken it upon themselves to temporarily “disarm” SUV vehicles in the cities by letting down the tyres. In the US, an anti-4×4 group called ‘The Detroit Project’ even blames terrorism on 4×4 drivers because, it says, they increase US dependency on oil belonging to Middle East states with alleged links to terrorist groups. In the UK groups such as ‘Alliance Against Urban 4×4s’ will slip tickets resembling parking fines under the windscreens of their ‘targets’. However, this group is also responsible for posting love messages and valentines cards under the windscreen wipers of low emission cars in streets across the UK as shown in the picture (Source: http://www.stopurban4×4s.org.uk/).
If your main driving terrain is the urban jungle, the Australian government’s Green Vehicle Guide has been developed to provide new car buyers with advice on the environmental impact, fuel efficiency and emissions of new cars. However, this currently only provides information on vehicles which meet regulatory standards rather than those where emissions performance exceeds the minimum standards or uses hybrid technology.
