At Tuesday night's Council Meeting, Yarra City Council unanimously asked that a report be prepared investigating the dangers of heavy utility vehicles on Yarra streets. The report will explore how Council can make travelling on Yarra's streets safer and more accessible for pedestrians, particularly children, and cyclists by discouraging large and heavy utility vehicles like RAM trucks and Land Rover Defenders.
Council did not vote to introduce a new tax or additional charges.
The report will pertain to extremely large vehicles that don't fit in a standard car space and are not made to travel down narrow, inner-city streets, will include consideration of proportionate parking fees based on a vehicle's size, and will consider appropriate caveats (EVs, people with disabilities).
Standard SUVs like Mazda CX7s or Nissan Patrols will not be considered as part of the report.
Yarra City Council Mayor Cr Edward Crossland said the decision is about improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists in Yarra.
"Yarra City Council is committed to reducing road fatalities and improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists across our inner-city municipality," he said.
"Children are eight times more likely to die when hit by a larger vehicle than compared to a normal passenger car," the Mayor said.
"As well as safety concerns, heavy utility vehicles have significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions than other vehicles, and do more damage to our streets," he said.
"The City of Yarra is a high-density, inner-city location with very narrow streets, which these extremely large vehicles often have difficulty navigating and don't fit in standard parking spaces. We want to increase the use of public transport, cycling infrastructure and create more pedestrian-friendly, accessible cities," he said.
"These vehicles have very real safety, environmental, and physical implications of these vehicles being on our streets," the Mayor said.
Last month, Parisians voted to increase parking fees for people driving heavy polluting and larger vehicles in the city centre, with other European cities looking to do the same.
Yarra's Transport Strategy aims to ensure that people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds can move around our city easily, using transport that's sustainable, safe, healthy and affordable.
