It’s inconceivable to not have observed it – vehicles have been getting larger and larger, and SUVs and four-door utes have grow to be Australia’s new household automotive. Gone are the times of the Commodore or Corolla combating it out as Australia’s hottest automobile. We’re now nicely into the period of the Ranger, RAV4, HiLux and Outlander, in addition to rising flirtations with US-style pickup vans, and it reveals no signal of stopping.
It occurred progressively, regardless of the mounting proof about among the issues posed by these autos.
Examine after research has continued to again up their impression on street security, from their grander heights and weights, that means they strike smaller vehicles with extra power in additional weak positions and pedestrians’ – particularly kids’s – our bodies in additional deadly methods; to the best way they’ll have an effect on a driver’s psyche, probably encouraging rushing and harmful driving, and riskier outcomes for his or her occupants too.
Highway fatalities in Australia have been rising, in methods not seen for the reason that pre-seatbelt period. Wanting past the headline information, you possibly can see the spiralling will increase in deaths have been pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle riders. In reality, driver and passenger deaths really went down in 2024.
There isn’t a conclusive information on precisely why that is taking place.
However a rising refrain of specialists consider the rise of larger autos on our roads is an element.
There are different underexamined social shifts occurring due to our rising love affair with these autos. There are the hidden bills, from including to cost-of-living strain with the next gas spend; going in opposition to the emissions reductions efforts of the nation; draining nationwide tax coffers by varied incentives that nudge even graphic designers to decide on big utes as their subsequent household autos; including to insurance coverage premiums for all drivers; hogging parking area; worsening visitors and zapping productiveness.
These societal prices are vital and rising, however aren’t mirrored within the sticker costs of those bigger autos, particularly after the tax perks.
The psychology of what may drive individuals to those autos apart – whether or not or not it’s a testosterone-driven attraction to the nice Australian outback; a higher sense, albeit a false one based on specialists, of safety; or their extra luxurious interiors – they’re clearly in style.
Whereas these options of an SUV can understandably carry extra attraction, the rise of dual-cab utes as household autos – particularly by lax policing of private use of tax-subsidised work autos – is noteworthy.
As producers akin to Mitsubishi put together for households to account for extra gross sales of its flagship ute than tradies, the design of the workhorses are altering.
Whereas their proponents have claimed that utes have lengthy been on Australian roads, these autos have undergone an enormous progress spurt, making them inherently extra lethal in collisions.
Incremental dimension will increase with every year’s up to date fashions imply the long-term bloat has crept up on us, to the purpose that the most well-liked Toyota HiLux in 2025 is about 20cm taller and wider, 60cm longer and virtually twice as heavy as its 2000 variant of alternative.
Interiors are being maximised with fashionable consolation options on the expense of a shrinking rear tray, with anecdotal proof that tradies are more and more having to tow additional provides simply to carry out routine for jobs.
Whereas giant automotive recognition and worsening street security seem set to proceed, specialists have flagged a handful of approaches that would incentivise wiser automobile alternative.
As Prof Stuart Newstead, the director of Monash College’s Accident Analysis Centre, identified, Australia’s Ancap security scores system considers dangers for pedestrians, however solely as a consider a automobile’s general rating, that means hazard will be obscured by robust occupant security options.
Adopting minimal scores for pedestrian security, as markets in Europe and Japan do, would forestall essentially the most harmful of the bigger vehicles from even being offered right here.
Impartial transport skilled Marion Terrill believes state authorities may require a higher-level driver’s licence, with extra rigorous testing for the precise risks they pose, to function.
Such licences ought to carry a higher registration charges, “because the social cost of these vehicles is ultimately higher”, Terrill believes, noting the costlier and laborious course of may nudge drivers to smaller autos.
These concepts all depend on extra modestly sized vehicles being accessible on the market. Producers have flooded Australia’s market with SUVs and utes, figuring out they’ll make far extra money on them. Ford, as soon as identified for its Fiesta and Focus, now not even make sedans or hatchbacks.
One lever could possibly be much like Australia’s new automobile effectivity normal, which incentivises corporations to ship cleaner autos right here and penalises people who don’t. Given present client preferences, the usual is prone to see an inflow of electrical and hybrid SUVs and utes, versus hatchbacks and sedans. The same mechanism, considering security concerns and automobile dimension, could possibly be explored.
Parking can even play a job. Requirements Australia is edging in the direction of mandating bigger parking automotive areas, whereas the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has proposed forcing builders to construct larger garages.
As an alternative of creating life simpler for bigger vehicles, Terrill believes extra small car-only spots, into which SUVs can’t match, will make automotive patrons suppose twice. She additionally backs Paris’s method, which fees SUVs triple charges for metropolis parking.
Regardless of the assorted concepts, one downside is the life cycle of a automotive. Even with focused options, something will take a decade or so to begin taking impact.
However to sort out an issue, it must be acknowledged as one first, and for now these huge autos and their prices to society appear to be the elephant within the room.
