Artwork depicting the negative effects of large cars appeared on three large billboards along the A39 in Cornwall overnight by the group Climate Safe Transport.
The illustrations carry two messages: “Ignore the Kids. Burn the Planet”, highlighting the dangerously high carbon emissions from SUVs.
A second says “Keep your child safe and uncrushed inside a brand new child-crushing machine” underlining how “pedestrians hit by an SUV are twice as likely to die than when hit by a normal car."
The group’s spokesperson, Sam, said: "Corporate manufacturers and advertisers are using manipulative marketing to push people into buying bigger and more polluting cars which are making our planet a dangerous place for our kids.
"At a time when we need to be urgently moving to clean transport, car manufacturers are actively working to sell people dirtier cars than ever.
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"As the second biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions increases, these vehicles are a danger to society and the planet; we will not tolerate them."
Alex, a group member, added: "These two-tonne SUVs are lethal high-speed weapons on our rural roads; they are too big for our country lanes and their extra weight and higher profile make collisions with pedestrians, cyclists and other car users much more deadly.
"Compared to ordinary cars, SUVs are more polluting, more deadly, and more costly to run – the only winners from these cars are the corporations selling them."
SUVs now account for 4 out of every 10 cars sold in the UK, causing an increase in average new car emissions over recent years, according to research from the IEA
The IEA has also highlighted how this makes SUVs the second largest driver of growing greenhouse gas emissions.
Recent research has also suggested that larger cars (SUVs) are a leading driver of rising pedestrian fatalities in the USA, where the growth in SUV numbers began earlier than in the UK
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