Deadpool
06-09-2004, 07:35 AM
http://my.netscape.com/corewidgets/news/story.psp?cat=50900&id=2004060909220002350329
PARIS (Reuters) - Bulky four-by-fours could be banned from
clogging up the chic streets of Paris after a top official in
the capital's left-wing government described them as a
polluting "caricature of a car" unsuited to city life.
An anti-sports utility vehicle (SUV) resolution passed by
the city council could lead to a ban on the popular vehicles in
about 18 months if it is included in an overall project to
improve traffic flow in the city, Deputy Mayor Denis Baupin
said Wednesday.
"You have to wonder why people want to drive around in
SUVs," Baupin, a Greens party member, said on Europe 1 radio.
"We have no interest in having SUVs in the city. They're
dangerous to others and take up too much space."
The city council voted Tuesday to urge Socialist Mayor
Bertrand Delanoe to consider banning SUVs, which have become
popular in recent years and now make up about five percent of
the French car market -- just below the western Europe average.
Baupin said Paris, which has been setting aside more lanes
for buses and bicycles since a Socialist and Greens coalition
took over City Hall in 2001, could not legally ban SUVs
outright.
"Our idea is to limit the circulation of the most polluting
vehicles," he said. "That means SUVs and lots of other vehicles
that don't meet European pollution standards."
Baupin, who often cycles around Paris to promote more
environmentally friendly transport, called SUVs a caricature of
a car and said they were not adapted for use in a city.
"It's made for a family on vacation ... and usually they
only have one person in them," he said.
"Let's be logical and only allow into the city cars that
are adapted to it."
PARIS (Reuters) - Bulky four-by-fours could be banned from
clogging up the chic streets of Paris after a top official in
the capital's left-wing government described them as a
polluting "caricature of a car" unsuited to city life.
An anti-sports utility vehicle (SUV) resolution passed by
the city council could lead to a ban on the popular vehicles in
about 18 months if it is included in an overall project to
improve traffic flow in the city, Deputy Mayor Denis Baupin
said Wednesday.
"You have to wonder why people want to drive around in
SUVs," Baupin, a Greens party member, said on Europe 1 radio.
"We have no interest in having SUVs in the city. They're
dangerous to others and take up too much space."
The city council voted Tuesday to urge Socialist Mayor
Bertrand Delanoe to consider banning SUVs, which have become
popular in recent years and now make up about five percent of
the French car market -- just below the western Europe average.
Baupin said Paris, which has been setting aside more lanes
for buses and bicycles since a Socialist and Greens coalition
took over City Hall in 2001, could not legally ban SUVs
outright.
"Our idea is to limit the circulation of the most polluting
vehicles," he said. "That means SUVs and lots of other vehicles
that don't meet European pollution standards."
Baupin, who often cycles around Paris to promote more
environmentally friendly transport, called SUVs a caricature of
a car and said they were not adapted for use in a city.
"It's made for a family on vacation ... and usually they
only have one person in them," he said.
"Let's be logical and only allow into the city cars that
are adapted to it."