Cars in Europe have grown average 1.2cm longer every year since 2000

Cars have grown 1.2cm longer, 0.5cm taller and 0.5cm wider each year on average since 2000, analysis of new vehicles sold in Europe has found, in what green groups call “relentless carspreading”. The increase in size, which leaves people more likely to be killed in a crash and increases emissions that hurt lungs and heat the planet , has progressed at a roughly steady rate for two and half decades even as family sizes have fallen, the campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) found. Car bloat is frustrating drivers, too, with cities expected to lose 8.5-14% of on-street parking by 2040 if the historical trend continues unchecked, the analysis found. London and Berlin are each predicted to lose about 100,000 parking spaces. The findings come as research shared exclusively with the Guardian shows potential SUV buyers are undeterred by warnings that they are more likely to kill pedestrians. Lucien Mathieu, an analyst at T&E and lead author of the report, said the “dramatic trend” held serious consequences for public safety and the erosion of urban space. “This relentless carspreading highlights one critical question: where do we stop?” Mathieu said. “The linear trend is so clear.” The authors modelled a scenario in which cars supersize at their current rate until 2040, as well as one of “right-sizing” fleets by bringing average car sizes back to 2015 levels. …