A MOTHER of a teenage boy hit by a car outside their family home in Cardiff is calling for new measures to tackle SUVs in the city.

Helen Edwards presented a petition signed by over 250 residents at a Cardiff council meeting which calls for the council to “introduce fairer parking charges based on the size of the car to reduce congestion and road danger.

The petition warns that: “the higher the vehicle fronts the more likely a person will be knocked under the car, rather than pushed to the side, and the risk to children is particularly stark.”

Helen told the councillors at the meeting, “my young teenage son was hit by a car last year. We live on a very busy residential road and my neigbour knocks on my front door to say my son is lying in the road.

“In the hospital, the first thing the doctor wanted to know is what size car he was hit by. Our children don’t enjoy the freedom our parents and grandparents enjoyed. Children have to navigate dangerous, congested, overcrowded roads, which are becoming dominated by large vehicles.”

“As a parent it’s your worst nightmare to come out of your house and see your child lying in the road. The wait to find out if his internal organs were damaged was painstaking, we felt completely helpless.”

Thankfully her son made a full recovery, but the emotional toll has been significant for the family.

“I feel so lucky he walked away, but that’s because it was an average sized car. If it had been a bigger car, or going faster, it horrifies me to think it could have happened. Everyone’s lives could have been ruined.”

Clean Cities are one of the founder members of The SUV Alliance, a campaign made up of a coalition of 19 environmental and transport groups. The Alliance has published a manifesto calling for changes to Vehicle Excise Duty to tax SUVs and the heaviest and most polluting vehicles more when they are sold and allowing local authorities to introduce higher parking charges on SUVs and other heavier, more polluting vehicles.

Oliver Lord, UK Head of Clean Cities, said: “Families in Cardiff should not have to live in fear of their children being hit by oversized cars on their own streets. The evidence is clear, SUVs are more dangerous for people outside the car, take up more space, and pollute more.

Councils like Cardiff have the power to act by introducing fairer parking charges that reflect the true cost of these vehicles. By doing so, we can reduce road danger, free up space, and make our cities safer and healthier for everyone.”

The petition coincides with new posters which have been put up in Cardiff urging Cardiff City Council to tackle ‘car spreading’ by introducing higher parking charges for large SUVs as part of its upcoming parking strategy reform.