Slap a Ticket on an Urban 4x4
The ‘Stop Urban 4X4s’ website says they “are a growing campaign that is uniting environmental, consumer, road safety groups and concerned individuals all over the UK. Our campaign began in London but we are now active in towns and cities across the country.
‘Through us you can find lots of constructive, creative and peaceful ways to deal with your frustration at the increasing numbers of big 4×4 vehicles on urban streets.
‘Our goals are to make driving a big 4×4 in town as socially unacceptable as drink-driving, and to increase taxes on the most polluting vehicles, including increases in road tax and a higher congestion charge in London. We are also seeking an end to 4×4 advertisements in the mainstream media.”
This is a pretty creative action – and also a bit risky! You could end up irking your friends and neighbours – depending on what they drive. So if you feel the courage in your veins visit the site (click below) and print off one (or more) of their ‘spoof parking tickets’. Then leave it on an offending 4 by 4 (perhaps ensure that it doesn’t belong to anyone in your street first!).
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12 Feb 2006
I like this one as I’m running out of things that I can reasonably do in-house, so to speak! It fits my sense of naughtiness and fun …
Maidenhead, GB , 12 Feb 2006
Someone slapped one of these on my Freelander in the summer. It amused me because with just a 1.8l engine and 30mpg, my car is at least as efficient as many larger family cars. I drive less than 12,000 miles a year. I can sleep soundly at night knowing that I’m not ‘guzzling gas’.
A far greater problem surely has to be poorly maintained cars (under-inflated tyres are a terrible waste of fuel), older less efficient vehicles, and unnecessary use of things like air conditioning.
So yeah, I’ll pass on this action.
Cardiff, GB , 13 Feb 2006
I’m not sure about this one.
I read somewhere that half the pollution caused by the average car is in it’s manufacture.
If a person has kept a landrover going for 30 years then, inefficient though it might be, it’s probably less of an environmental problem than a multi-car household or a new-car-every-three-years mentality.
Also the green ticket doesn’t feel very generous…
13 Feb 2006
I must admit this is one of my pet hates… and from a “Generous” point of view it’s fairly clear! Why does someone who lives in a city (or large town) need a 4 X 4? (AKA Chelsea Tractor) they appear to be merely a status symbol. If you live somewhere wild (or need to go out in very bad weather, then maybe a 30 Year old Series 3 is the right vehicle) then there is no problem, the issue is that most people who own then consider Tesco’s Car Park Off road… It’s a case of Size and status with no though for appropriateness
Kilkenny, IE , 14 Feb 2006
I must say I like the idea of this (although I havn’t get checked out the actual tickets!) I did something similiar to this last year, there was a local evangelical church who were big on community and yet each sunday they completely blocked out the paths around their church with their rather large cars!! After one sunday watching an old lady with a zimmerframe attempting to walk on the road, I decided to act. Each sunday I would put little bible verses under their car wipers reminding them of their duty to others and pointing out their erratic parking. Their parking improved almost immediately and up till the time I left that area, it had never gotten sloppy again….so these kind of actions really do make people thinkg again!.
18 Feb 2006
It may be that I’m forced to drive one of these in the near future. Injury means a higher car is needed (back problems). If I do have to get one, please don’t sticker me, as without a car, i’m housebound.
Taunton, GB , 05 Mar 2006
This action does seem a bit judgemental. And a bit of a generalisation. We have an 18 year old LPG powered Range Rover (I guess that makes us urban 4×4 owners – although we live in a rural town) which cost us £1,300 (so we are responsible for only a small amount of the energy of manufacture, unlike a new car buyer) and we only drive about 6,000 miles per year. We don’t have a second car. It is also reliable and doesn’t have loads of expensive modern bits which take loads of embodied energy in the manufacture of replacement bits (I’ve even let the petrol system go to rack and ruin rather than repair it).
Of course, the day I bought it I took the bullbars off!
Whilst I wouldn’t want to spend too much on my motoring (I reckon that spending is a fair indicator of damage when it comes to motoring) I’m not out to go out of my way to criticise total strangers!
GB , 20 Mar 2006
Sounds a bit Stalinist to me. I drive a 4×4 and live in a town. I’m a commercial photographer by trade and spend a lot of time lugging a lot of kit up and down the UK. In fact recently had me, my kit, two film crew and there kit in the “urban tractor”. in case you are wondering, we were covering an event at 6 locations around the UK Don’t just assume that every 4×4 is owned by blonde doing the school run…some of us use them to work. And no a van is not a practical alternative.
Engage brain…open mouth.
26 Mar 2006
Why is a van not a practical alternative, twitchy 4×4 owner? What would you have used a decade ago?
That aside beside, I don’t see why 4×4 owners should be singled out for being environmental destroyers – ALL car owners are. Me included. I hope being GENEROUS isn’t degenerating into meaning SCAPEGOATING OTHER PEOPLE when we’re as bad ourselves.
Roll on the end of the oil age – it will happen within a generation or two.
GB , 27 Mar 2006
John, a van is not a practical alternative because we only have ONE vehicle in the family. And a decade ago i was 14 so it wasn’t an issue. Had an MPV for a while -A 2.6lt (my freelander is an 18ooD) – but I kept getting stuck in country lanes and needing a real tractor to get me out. I’ve also mentioned in another section that I was once turfed off a train for having to much with me and ended up having to drive. The truth is that until we get an intergrated transport system in the UK we will never solve the problem of cars. And please don’t talk Hydrogen power to me. Far to much energy involved in building the cells so currently not an alternative. The oil age will end one day but the altnetaive has to be PRACTICAL.
Little Green Fee, GB , 22 May 2006
Being Cheltenham based there are lots of people who do keep these vehicles just for town run arounds, but there are quite a lot that do live out in the wilds and venture into town occasionally. Other than standing outside of a school and ticketing the school runners I don’t think I like the idea of jumping to conclusions about all of them I see. I’m a car owner and think we should all be more considerate in our usage. If a journey is under a mile or two ask yourself if you really need to take the car? Could you spare a few more minutes and cycle or walk? Think about the money you’d save on not filling up so often! (shorter journeys are much more inefficient than longer ones). If, like me, you own a diesel car have you considered biodiesel? I buy mine from www.purebiodiesel.co.uk
13 Jun 2006
Dont take this too seriously – it can be a fun irreverent way to raise awareness. If you look at the tickets they arent offensive, they actually contain a lot of information that may just be news to a recipient. If you do this sensibly (only target vehicles unlikely to be used off road ie not ones covered in mud or with tools and equipment inside, and place the ticket carefully to avoid causing any damage) I dont think its at odds with the generous spirit.
And regarding bad backs – many smaller engined cars are available with ergonomic seats, or try an orthopedic backrest – thats not a good arguement to justify owning a 4×4!
Birmingham, GB , 16 Jul 2006
I met a lady this week who was late for an appointment with me. she mentioned that she had trouble parking her car – she drives a discovery, which doesn’t fit in some spaces. I did think about this action, I work in a rather posh slightly rural area, and there are many 4×4s about – and it is one of my pet hates. She then went on to tell me that she’d had a sticker put on her car, and she was actually quite uspet about this. She has 14 acres of land and keeps animals. She uses the car for transporting hay etc. She said the worst thing about having somebody targeting you, is that you have no chance to explain yourself to them. She didn’t need to tell me any of this, but it had obviously affected her enough to want to explain herself.
I dont know if its fair to pass judgement on other people’s choices in this way. Perhaps if you want to put your name and address on the back of the stickers so the recipient can chat to you about their reasons….somehow I dont think people will take me up on this!! I dont agree with a lot of people’s reasons for driving 4×4s, but I wonder if there’s another way of dealing with this?
And yes, Im sure this can be a ‘fun’ action to do, but when it upsets people, Im not so sure.
Colorado Springs, US , 30 Nov 2006
Anna, I agree that we need to know reasoning behind the vehicle before passing judgement on the owner. I live in rural Colorado (USA) and have a 2X4 Chevrolet Suburban. I’d love to get rid of it, but we need something that can pull our trailer. This is an infrequent chore but needs to be done so the horse can eat/get to the vet/etc. I’ve even gone so far as to call rental companies to see if I could rent something for a day. It should be cheaper in gas & insurance to follow this route. However, in the States, all major rental companies have a “no towing” policy.
In the meantime, I purchased a carbon offset for my monster vehicle. It’s the best that’s available to me.
Colorado Springs, US , 30 Nov 2006
Perhaps it would be better to place a brochure about carbon offsets on their vehicle?
I’ll go suggest that as a new action possibility.
08 Feb 2007
I have the ‘One Less 4X4’ sticker in my car – and get a lot of positive comments from people – though I do wonder if the 4X4 drivers cut me up and sit right on my rear bumper even more than they used to…!
13 Mar 2007
Theres a big difference between people who use there for 4×4 for work and those who use them as a status symbol. The area i live in is a semi-rural village, in the ‘posh area’ and there is definitely a thing about having a 4×4 for status rather than purpose, so many are mothers with only 1 child doing the school run and they never look as though they have seen mud before! i share a car with my mum – a bit difficult on occasions!!, but im a book dealer and i live in a semi rural village, so there is the occasionally hill/field and mud situation to deal with – though its only a Rover 400, it does fit in 14 large boxes of books (approx 1000 books) so sometimes i feel its poor excuse to use a 4×4 ‘because i have so much stuff to move’, my sister similarly has a Rover 400 and rides horses for a living and she manages to get everything in her car – although i would never recommend being a passenger in her car!!