The owner of an SUV in Bristol has been left 'p*****off' after climate activists deflated his tyres in Clifton on Tuesday (May 17). The vehicle owner, who asked not to be named, had the air in his wheels let down by a group which calls itself the Tyre Extinguishers.
The group has targeted the vehicles across the country and in Bristol on multiple occasions, as part of a campaign to encourage people to take action against urban SUVs to help achieve climate change. But the Clifton SUV owner says that the incident left him "p***** off" after he discovered what had happened yesterday (May 18), and that it would not encourage him to get rid of his vehicle.
He told Bristol Live: "Nobody should tell us what car we should or shouldn't be driving except for the government themselves, certainly not somebody who's got an idea about it and decides they don't like them for whatever reason.
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"It's people throwing toys out the pram. Ultimately I think by the sounds of it, they want to try doing it again but people will be more vigilant to it."
The SUV owner says he spotted between 40 and 50 cars in the neighbourhood which had met similar fates. He says that because his tyres were let down, he had to take extra journeys in a friend's car to Halfords to get his vehicle fixed, and had to take test drives in his car once the repairs were done which he would not have needed to before.
"It's quite ironic, I ended up having lots of unnecessary journeys off the back of what they've done, which is just inconvenience, which (I can cope with), but I think for a lot of people there was probably much more inconvenience."
He also says that his vehicle is fully compliant with Bristol's new Clean Air Zone, and he doesn't think the actions of the environmentalists will make any difference to the fight for climate action, particularly as he doesn't think the infrastructure is there for people to have electric cars at the moment.
"They don't seem to really have a huge amount of facts behind them. I think it's more people wanting to rebel against something, which is all very well but you can't just go and vandalise things because you don't agree with it that's not how life works."
In a statement earlier today, the group said: "This is to let you know that on Tuesday evening, Bristol Tyre Extinguishers disarmed 50 SUVs in the Clifton area of Bristol. Bristol is living through an air pollution and climate crisis, and we won't stop until these monster vehicles disappear from our streets."
Avon and Somerset Police is treating the spree of incidents as criminal damage and is asking anyone who witnessed anything to come forward. A police spokesperson said: "We are appealing for witnesses and information after multiple cars’ tyres were deflated in Bristol.
"We received reports that a number of vehicles’ tyres had been let down overnight on Tuesday 17 May on Mortimer Road in Clifton. A note had then been left on the windscreen of the vehicles, leading officers to believe the incident is linked to an environmental protest group.
"We are treating these incidents as criminal damage. If you saw anything suspicious or have any information which could aid the investigation, please contact us."
The group said their actions have now taken place in more than 20 locations across the UK, as well as Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Arizona, Colorado and New Zealand since the start of March. It said they estimate they have deflated nearly 3,000 SUVs.
The Tyre Extinguishers describes itself as “leaderless” and encourages people to take action by reading instructions on how to deflate tyres on its website. People can also print off leaflets to leave on the windscreen of affected vehicles to inform drivers what has happened.
Activists are urged to avoid SUVs “clearly used” by people with disabilities or by tradespersons. The New Scientist reported how global analysis found the rise of SUVs last year wiped out the environmental gains from electric cars.
Last year, one of the UK's most popular selling cars was a Kia Sportage SUV, according to Auto Express. SUVs emit 25 per cent more carbon dioxide on average than a medium-sized car, and have jumped in popularity in the UK from nearly seven per cent of private cars sold in the UK in 2009 to more than 21 per cent in 2018, according to the UK energy Research Centre.
