Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has re-launched London’s Vision Zero project, which aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the capital’s roads by 2041.
Working with Transport for London (TfL), the mayor is proposing to levy surcharges for SUVs, after research suggests they pose a greater risk than regular-sized vehicles. There has been a huge increase in the number of SUVs in London in recent years. Campaign group Clean Cities claim that there were 80,000 SUVs in 2002, but this figure had risen to 800,000 SUVs by 2023.
The Vision Zero 2 plan, which was published on March 13, 2026, states that:
“Without action to address oversized and heavier vehicles, more people will be seriously injured or killed.”
TfL’s research claims that SUVs create intensifying risks across London. Conservatives at City Hall have accused Khan of carrying out an “anti-car agenda”, and suggested the proposal is motivated more by ideology than a genuine concern for public safety.
The numbers of recorded road deaths and serious injuries for London show an average of 100 deaths and 3000 serious injuries per year for every year since 2022. TfL’s failure to meet targets set by the mayor has prompted a re-boot of the Vision Zero strategy, and surcharges for SUVs is one of a number of new measures aimed at tackling the problems.
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