Should urban 4x4 drivers be penalised?

A senior government adviser has called for a rise in car tax to cut the numbers of four-wheel drive vehicles on Britain's roads.

Professor David Begg, describes urban 4x4 owners as "irresponsible and dangerous" and Ken Livingstone calls them "idiots".

The Government's senior adviser for transport believes drivers of the so-called yank tanks should pay higher car tax because they are harmful to the environment and threaten the safety of other road users.

In France, 4x4 drivers already face hefty taxes and calls to ban the off-roaders altogether in the capital, Paris.

What do you think of 4x4 drivers in urban areas? Is increased car tax and congestion charging fair? A daily newspaper wants to "ban these monsters".

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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Your comments:

In the US, people mainly drive SUVs as a substitute for driving skills. The idea is that if they have an accident, they will fare better than the vehicle they hit. The SUV should be taxed significantly higher than regular vehicles.
Mel, USA

I am glad that I live in a country where you can drive whatever kind of vehicle you want. The high rate of taxes in Britain is crazy. Our government would be thrown out of office if they tried to tax SUVs in the US. This is another example of Britain's "big brother" government over-regulating its citizens.
Bill, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

4x4s provides comfort and safety on our roads for the driver Alexander Konadu, New-Russia , Ghana

4x4s provides comfort and safety on our roads for the driver, rather the government could found a better way of reducing them on our urban roads than banding the use of them. Lets all not forget the individual has the freedom in using his hard earned money whatever way he likes.
Alexander Konadu, New-Russia , Ghana

Those who say 4X4s pollute, don't seem to mind that regular sized vehicles pollute too. So banning SUV's is obviously not motivated by environmental, but rather by ideological reasons. Should we then ban private jets as well?
Gin, New York, USA

Once again we see that supposedly responsible, mature, adults quite often lack any semblance to even a modicum of common sense or rationality. Whatever happened to the idea of using the appropriate tool for the job at hand? In London, or Paris, where extremes of weather are rarely seen, and there is no accumulation of mud, ice or snowfall, to challenge driving, why on Earth would drivers choose vehicles that are larger, heavier, and more powerful than is necessary? One does not usually use a powerful jackhammer to drive in a finishing nail into fine furniture. The same kind of reasoning must needs be taught to those who persist in using vehicles that are designed for other purposes and climates.
Robert Morpheal, Canada

I think this is yet another excuse to persecute the middle classes of this country Roz, UK

My parents have a 4x4. They also have a large labrador who tends to get very wet and muddy and would wreck any normal car. It was also very useful for ferrying me to and from uni with all my stuff. I think this is yet another excuse to persecute the middle classes of this country. To call some one an idiot just because they own a 4x4 is childish.
Roz, UK

I changed my sports car for a 4x4 diesel. Not only is it better for getting my 3 children and two dogs into, it averages 32 mpg. My old car managed 21! Which is worse for the environment? Not all 4x4 drivers are the same, stop stereotyping!
Matt, Herts

Some of us choose 4x4's for towing caravans which are much safer than seeing idiots towing large caravans with small cars and swaying all over the road. I have just changed from a Rover 75 tourer to a Kia Sorento and the lenght is shorter so it does not take up any more room on the road and is much safer for towing. I do agree that mothers taking children to school in them is silly but please do not stop those of us who want to tow safely from enjoying a way of life many of us have waited for when we retired.
John Stych, Pershore Worcs

The solution surely is to adjust the tax disc system. Reduce the tax on clean cars, increase the tax on dirty cars, but keep the takings neutral overall.
Abigail, London

These vehicles definitely seem to attract the worst drivers in every country Gareth, Bermuda

Base road tax on the overall size of the vehicle, height, width, length. It might make some people think twice about buying such monstrosities. Even here in Bermuda, where we have, by law, much smaller cars, there are some low-end 4x4s and their drivers too are absolutely awful. These vehicles definitely seem to attract the worst drivers in every country.
Gareth, Bermuda

I have a beat up 1988 Range Rover that I use for getting animal feed etc. It often has 6 bales of hay stuffed in the back too. I don't see why I should be penalised.
Adrian, UK

I lived for a long time in the USA and saw the need for 4x4 vehicles... extreme weather conditions combined with extreme terrain made them essential. Then, when I moved back to the UK, I saw them predominantly sitting outside schools in places like Esher and Cobham. Not exactly what I would call extreme driving conditions. More a nuisance than anything else. The roads in the USA are wider and 4x4 vehicles were designed with US road sizes in mind. UK roads were designed with horse and cart in mind... On average, a bit smaller than a 4X4!!!
Steve Diamond, London, England

Certainly 4x4s should be banned from urban areas. They pollute, they are seldom full of children being taken to school, as some of the responses would like us to believe; they are merely status symbols for those who can afford them and personality extensions for most users. My brother has lived in Australia for over 30 years and says that he has seen more 4x4s in the UK than in Australia where there is a greater 'need' for them as cities are close to the bush and residents often visit these areas.
Alan Glenister, Bushey, Herts, England

They are status symbols, for people with over-inflated egos to take their idle children to school. They take up two parking spaces in car parks, are usually driven by women who not only can't drive them but can't park them either. They should be heavily taxed and restricted to those who need them to go cross country.
J. East, Poole

Does that make me a menace or do I meet the necessary criteria? Andy, Chatham

Generalisation is always a bad thing! Why does everyone assume a 4x4 driver is the same as an off road car driver. What would they class the newer sports cars that also have 4x4 drive? My big problem with the of road cars is those utterly stupid bull bars. While some manufactures have seen sense and removed them, others haven't. When a pedestrian makes contact with one of them the risk of substantial injury is significantly increased. I drive an MPV as I have a family of 6 (2 Adults and 4 children) does that make me a menace or do I meet the necessary criteria?
Andy, Chatham, Kent

Yet another sweeping, bigoted remark from a public servant. Please can we have a 100% tax on interfering busybodies who want to ban everything outside of their own narrow view of the world? Only positive measures to increase the choice and quality of transport methods will solve urban congestion.
Alex Carroll, Sheffield, UK

4x4s are intimidating and unpleasant when you are driving anywhere near them so they induce instant hate in other drivers but why not double the 4x4 tax because it is quite clear that anyone who can afford the petrol to drive one of these vehicles can afford to pay plenty in tax for the extra wear and tear on the roads and the inconvenience to the rest of us.
Keith L, Rayleigh England

4x4s leads to increases in demand for oil. Higher demand for oil leads to higher demand for trade with undemocratic regimes. Dealing with undemocratic regimes often leads to terrorism. Let's all get a bike instead!
Soeren P, Warwick, UK

I'd say yes, increase those taxes. The SUVs are a menace to society. The new generation of SUVs in California is large enough to participate in the next Gulf War.
Jacco Bot, Los Angeles, USA

I live in an urban area, own a 4x4, and do not use it off road. My reason for ownership is safety - with the number of red light jumpers, aggressive drivers etc, on the road these days any advantage is becoming a necessity.
Graham G, UK

I hate them, as they only seem to be used on the school run. Leave farmers and alike to have them, but the average worker... do they not realise they look daft....oh, and ban bull bars completely!
Helen Kreissl

There is just no need for 4x4 drivers in urban areas Richard Barnes, Surrey, UK

The urban 4x4 represents everything wrong with our society; Insular and insecure (they look like tanks and appear impenetrable to the outsider) and are defensive and exclusive. They exclude anyone outside and give a clear egotistical message to anyone out there who is not driving a 4x4: "Get out my way, underling I shall not be held back by those who seek to constrain my actions for the good of everyone else". There is just no need for 4x4 drivers in urban areas. If someone could highlight a need, I would be surprised.
Richard Barnes, Surrey, UK

I have a 4x4 because it is the only thing I can buy to tow my wife's horse legally. I am happy to be taxed on fuel and emissions, but this is getting silly. In terms of being more dangerous, I am sure the deaths due to drink drugs etc... are higher.
James Storr, Nottingham

The issue here is one of choice. You may not have a choice when it comes to whether to drive or not, but you still have a choice about the kind of vehicle you drive. If you choose to drive a vehicle that has a higher environmental impact, you should pay more in taxes. Even better those taxes should be used to fund initiatives that off-set the environmental impact of your choice. In most cases there's no need to drive a 4x4 over another style of car, especially if you live in an urban area - it's simply a luxury that some can afford themselves. However, the environmental impact of that choice will cost others dearly in the future, so there has to be some come-back.
Ammie, Edinburgh, Scotland

These things are a menace, as are MPVs. Unless registered to a valid business or the owner can prove they have to own it by meeting certain criteria, then they should be subject to a road tax of at least £1000 a year.
John, London, UK

Generally people have these cars for good reasons Peter Tabor, Yalding, Kent

I have some sympathy on the environmental argument, but generally people have these cars for good reasons. We had to go for one as (1) it was the only practical way of taking seven on a school run (sharing school runs saves the environment), (2) it takes the dog and loads of children related gear (buggies etc) and (3) is useful when it floods (and it often does around us).
Peter Tabor, Yalding, Kent

I don't care what people drive. I ask only that they remember that everybody on the road is trying to get somewhere and if we all exercise a little patience and a little consideration for others then we'll all get where we want to go.
Ged, Liverpool, UK

I am the proud owner of a Shogun 4x4. I use it every day. I have used it to tow others in distress, to commute to work and for fun at weekends off road. I have never had an accident in one, never had trouble parking one and never blocked the road in one. Maybe these arrogant self opinionated individuals should spend a week driving in a 4x4 and a week driving in some small hatch back and then tell us which one they feel safer in, can see further in and have the most enjoyment from.
Neil, Rochdale

I'll bet my wife's Land Rover (fully paid for with taxed money, insured, road-taxed) gives off less unwanted emissions than a 'senior government adviser' on a healthy retainer. Spend more time pursuing real offenders, like hit-and-run drivers, people who speed outside schools, drink-drivers and the uninsured. Leave the rest of the decent population alone.
Philip, Hampshire, UK

Can we also have a tax on people carriers (according to people on this topic, mums are terrible drivers), Nissan Micras (old people cannot drive either), Ford Kas (every time I see one, the attractive young lady driver is doing her make-up) and Jaguars (just because Prescott has two)?
Alan, London

SUVs have taken over CW Wong, New York, USA

You Brits need to take action now if you want to prevent the state of affairs we have here. SUVs have taken over and I only wish we could turn back the clock. The vehicles are excessive in every way - space, injury potential, pollution and fuel consumption.
CW Wong, New York, USA

So the government wants a tax on the usage of inefficient modes of transport. Presumably politicians' wives who take a ministerial Jaguar 150 yards along the Bournemouth seafront will also be taxed into oblivion. Instead of harassing law-abiding motorists why doesn't the government do something useful, like getting the uninsured, untaxed and unlicensed drivers off the roads? These groups are far more of a menace than the 4x4.
Nige, England

I have a 4x4. It has an average sized diesel engine and I have to drive a minimum of 62 miles a day - every day. I have found that making the move from the regular saloon-type car I used to drive to this one, has made me more patient and generally slowed me down (not that I was a speeder to begin with). Furthermore, I expect this car to last a good ten years so I won't be funding further production of a couple of less durable vehicles. This really is a case of simple-minded, see-it-and-say-it politics. Professor Begg ought to spend his time on some more worthwhile research.
Kim, Oxfordshire

What ever happened to the concept of freedom of choice in this country? Are we now to have a list of government approved vehicles we should drive?
David, Northampton, UK

Why do I see so many of these vehicles in suburban driveways? How much opportunity to go 'off-road' is there in my town centre? The people who buy these vehicles don't need the extra space or handling capabilities the car provides - they just want the prestige of owning a premium ride. Unless you have thirteen children or a panther you need to take out with you, buy a normal car and get a roof-rack.
Pietre, Dordogne, France

Given that the people who drive 'Chelsea Tractors' normally exert little control over them, drive 1 child in them, can't park them and generally jam up traffic, I would say yes.
MM, London

Ken Livingstone doesn't like them, the press doesn't like them, eco-warriors don't like them and now the government's transport adviser doesn't like them too. I think I'll get one.
Anthony Jones, Leeds, UK

The only time you see these monsters "off road" is on the pavement outside primary schools Alan Higham, Wilmslow, England

We should follow the French, higher road tax etc. The only time you see these monsters "off road" is on the pavement outside primary schools.
Alan Higham, Wilmslow, England

It seems that they are simply used for anxious drivers to give themselves more 'road presence'. i.e. - bullying other drivers to compensate for their own lack of driving ability.
Gareth Rippingale, UK

Ban them completely apart from farmers and industries that need them. They take up far too much space, use too much petrol and are driven by the most inconsiderate of drivers.
Trem, Wolverhampton

It would be difficult to police. How do you determine what is a problem 4x4 and what is not? For example I drive a Saab 9-5 petrol and my colleague a Land Rover Freelander Diesel . My car is longer and therefore takes up more space on the road has a higher fuel consumption and more CO2 output. So who should pay more? The 4x4 driver or me?
Tony, Welwyn Garden City. UK

My friend bought his wife one on the grounds that she 'couldn't drive' Tony King, UK

Most of the 4x4's I see in urban areas are doing the school run. My friend bought his wife one on the grounds that she "couldn't drive" and therefore she and the children would be safer in one. I have no idea how anyone driving one would ever expect to see a small child outside a primary school and I have seen some pretty near misses. 4x4's should definitely be subject to increase road tax and congestion charging. In fact I believe they should also be subject to a "driving / competency test" before you are allowed to drive one!
Tony King, UK

Other than the environmental issues, I have noticed a serious decline in attitudes when people start driving these things. They are probably compensating for all those years they had to put up with lorries 3 inches from their bumpers at 50 mph. I could hazard a guess and say driving a 4x4 makes them more confident that whatever they hit will be smaller and less heavy, but I may be wrong.
Gareth Richardson, Brentwood, UK

Typical that the Government's senior advisor for transport is a car hating vegetablist. The car is, by a huge margin, still the only way most people in this country can move from where they are to where they need to go. Instead of telling us all what is good for us, why doesn't this government ever do what it is elected to do - represent the needs of most people? For the record, 4X4 drivers (and all other private road users) are already penalised far too much, and will continue to be so as long as we have a government desperate to rob the middle classes to fund their mass social engineering project.
Malcolm Cupis, Bath, Somerset

No-one should be allowed to raise the death rate with one of these Andrew Smith, Great Brickhill, UK

Not just penalised - stopped. Recently published research shows that if you are involved in a collision with one of these bricks-on-wheels you are 27 times (yes, twenty seven) times more likely to be killed. Driving is already dangerous enough in UK - no-one should be allowed to raise the death rate with one of these. They are a distinct step backwards in road safety.
Andrew Smith, Great Brickhill, UK

Amazing at the amount of hate coming from left-wing liberals. Yet no-one has shown me any evidence that 4x4's are any more dangerous than normal cars, or that they harm the environment more than say, a 5 litre Jaguar. In terms of footprint on the road, they are similar size to people carriers and vans, and not much bigger than a normal car. I suspect this is simply a class thing, it used to be BMW and Merc drivers we all hated, now its 4x4 drivers.
Richard, UK

They are taxed for Petrol (and as they use more, they pay more). Often pay top level of vehicle tax. Although higher, do they really take up more room than a Volvo estate? sounds to me like another "envy" tax, plain and simple.
Geoff, Ashtead, Surrey

They are absolutely essential in Windsor, particularly for taking children to school! J Walster, Windsor Berkshire

Ban them, how ridiculous! They are absolutely essential in Windsor, particularly for taking children to school!
J Walster, Windsor Berkshire

What a load of money grabbing rubbish from the government! I have a 4x4 as it is practical for my job and for the voluntary work I do for the Scouts Association. Why penalise these cars when you have sporty cars with larger engines that guzzle fuel and produce higher emissions than those of a 4x4?
Nadia Ross, Kent

A tax for driving a car? Does the English government spend their free time coming up with stupid taxes?
William, Pennsylvania, US

Yes, yes, and yes. Definitely yes.
Rico, Sheffield, England

Another attempt by the 'jealous and green eyed' to impose more taxes on those who can afford a premium vehicle Adam, Birmingham, UK

Absolutely not fair, another attempt by the 'jealous and green eyed' to impose more taxes on those who can afford a premium vehicle, we already pay enough in tax due to the high engine capacity compared to other motors. I drive a 4x4 but to be branded an idiot is unjust, I have stopped using mine for unnecessary journeys i.e. the school run, this is an example of what should be targeted, not the introduction of yet more tax!
Adam, Birmingham, UK

I read an article on efficient use of energy here on as web page a while ago. It is more efficient to not drive a 4x4 (if you have one) for one year than it was to recycle glass for a family for 400 years. Something stupid like that anyway. The drivers in my opinion, come across with some self denial that they are better drivers because they drive glammed up trucks, and cause me more hassle than any other road user. They should be banned even if it is only on ecological grounds.
Richard, Swindon, UK

4x4 drivers in urban areas tend to be the ones ferrying a single child to and from school. I would welcome a more scaleable structure to the car tax system. Or better still remove the road fund and add it to fuel. That's instantly scaleable and would remove a whole redundant department and reduce police time catching non-road fund payers. Simple! But too simple for this government.
Chris Davies, Chippenham, UK

Will a rise in car tax do anything? They are owned by people who are very wealthy and use them as fashion vehicles rather than utility vehicles after all.
Wendy, UK

The drivers of less fuel-efficient vehicles are already paying more for their choices John B, UK

This is just another example of the government solving the wrong problem. Instead of punishing the people who try to protect themselves how about taking some of the idiots off our roads so people don't feel the need to drive a tank? Take out the uninsured drivers, the boy racers, the lane weavers and those who don't look before pulling out, those who think they have the right to force their way in wherever they choose and so on. The real idiots are the bad drivers, not those who do nothing worse than trying to protect their families from the goons. As for higher taxes, with tax on fuel being the highest in Europe the drivers of less fuel-efficient vehicles are already paying more for their choices.
John B, UK