Motorists face weight-based car taxes and tougher restrictions on popular vehicles under new motion

The motion, which passed by 14 votes to eight, asked the Mayor of London to push for tighter limits on passenger vehicle size and bonnet height, introduce progressive taxes based on vehicle weight, and explore higher parking charges for larger cars.

Labour Assembly Member Elly Baker, who proposed the motion, warned that London's streets "weren't designed for larger vehicles like SUVs," which now make up a third of all cars on the road.

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She said: "Their greater size, weight, and higher bonnets put vulnerable road users at greater risk, reduce available parking spaces, and cause more wear and tear on our roads."

The motion specifically called on Mayor Sadiq Khan to write to the Department for Transport requesting updated vehicle regulations with tighter limits on passenger vehicle size and bonnet height.

It also asked him to write to HM Treasury requesting the introduction of a progressive tax on passenger vehicle weight into Vehicle Excise Duty.

Additionally, the Mayor was asked to write to London Councils to explore the feasibility of boroughs charging higher parking charges to SUVs "to account for the pressure they put on road space and local parking spaces".

Green Party member Caroline Russell, who seconded the motion, shared: "SUVs are getting bigger with every passing year, creating congestion, taking up limited space on our streets and adding to road danger."

"We should be using every tool in the policy toolbox to tackle this harmful shift toward bulky and hazardous vehicles to keep Londoners safe on our city streets."

Research shows that cars across the UK are getting bigger by an average of 1cm every two years, with 52 per cent of cars sold now too large for minimum parking spaces. This phenomenon, dubbed "carspreading", has now been found to have serious safety implications.

Russell explained during the debate that when pedestrians are hit by cars with higher bonnets above their centre of gravity, they go under the vehicle and are "very likely to be killed or catastrophically injured". In contrast, she said that those hit below their centre of gravity by traditional cars are "likely to be thrown up onto the bonnet or cast aside" and are "much less likely to be as seriously injured and less likely to be killed".

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The motion also highlighted that heavier vehicles cause more damage to roads, with London's road maintenance backlog having risen to £1.9billion. However, Conservative Assembly Members strongly opposed the motion, arguing it represented an attack on families and motorists.

Conservative Assembly Member Susan Hall warned that the motion was "absolutely typical of the lefties to try and start telling us what we should and what we shouldn't be driving".

Several Conservative members pointed out that electric vehicles are heavier than traditional cars, with Conservative Assembly Member Peter Fortune noting that popular electric models like the Tesla Model Y weigh 1,995kg and the Nissan Ariya about 2,000kg.

Meanwhile, Conservative Assembly Member Shaun Bailey argued the motion was "an attack on those people who've decided to produce children to pay your pension into the future".

Conservative Assembly Member Neil Garratt called the motion "a Trojan horse" for Labour and the Greens' "not so secret plan to price people off the roads".

However, Baker defended the motion, stating that the Assembly is responsible for taking this "danger seriously, so we need to consider what is most important here in London and make some tough and realistic decisions".

The motion noted that large SUVs and 4x4s, characterised by their size, higher bonnets and greater weight than traditional cars, put "those in smaller cars, pedestrians and cyclists, and particularly children, at increased risk of death or serious injury in the event of a collision".

Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Gareth Roberts chimed in, stating that the motion trying to find alternative ways of making sure that the roads are safe for everybody "is not necessarily a bad thing". The motion will now be put to the Mayor to take forward and address the concerns raised by Assembly Members.