4x4 cars should carry health warning, says think tank

Large 4x4 vehicles, known as Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in the US, should come with health warnings similar those imposed on tobacco companies, an economic think tank has urged.

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) warned that there needs to a change in attitude as SUVs present a "particular and significant threat" to public health and the environment.

The organisation issued its warning as sales of this type of vehicle were on the rise globally – one-in-four cars sold in the US is an SUV; and in London this figure stands at one in seven, according to the NEF.

The think tank claimed that 4x4s are disproportionately responsible for: emissions of both climate change fuelling CO2, other air pollutants; and traffic fatalities and injuries.

"SUVs are dangerous, fabulously polluting and part of a wider transport problem that is, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), set to be the world’s third most common cause of death and disability by 2020, ahead of TB, HIV and war,” policy director Andrew Simms said.

“We need labelling to encourage people not to drive these four-wheel behemoths in the same way we encourage people not to smoke. If we can’t, we may need to find a very large ashtray for our planet’s future.”

According to this year's WHO 'World Health Day', 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year and 50 million are injured around the globe.

NEF added that as with smoking, driving an SUV was potentially harmful not only to the driver but to other road users, the global population and the planet.

(gmcg/sp)