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The "Tire Extinguishers" Continue Their Fight Against SUVs in Scotland

The "Tire Extinguishers" (or "Tyre Extinguishers," if you're from the UK) are not stopping. Their goal is to make sure SUVs, and other types of generously sized vehicles will not be seen in major cities in the near future. To achieve it, the group has decided to deflate SUVs, pickup trucks, and crossover tires again in the northern part of the UK. Here's what happened.
Skoda SUV with Deflated Tires 12 photos
Photo: The Tyre Extinguishers on Twitter
SUV with Deflated TiresSUV with Deflated TiresPolice Stopping Environmental Activists from Blocking HighwaysSUV with Deflated TiresSUV with Deflated TiresWarning Message for SUV DriversDeflated SUV TireDeflated SUV TireActivist Deflating an SUV TireThe Message Left for Owners to ReadPhoto Marking the First Such Action in the U.S.
The “Tire Extinguishers” believe SUVs are a major contributor to the world’s pollution problems and consider them unsafe for urban environments. But beyond just believing so, the activists are trying to sound the alarm by stopping owners of such vehicles from using them. Unlike other similar climate-oriented organizations who keep blocking the public roads or chanting at people that just go on with their day, the “Tire Extinguishers” act mostly at night. They let the air out of big vehicles’ tires which, at least for now, is just a warning.

Fortunately, the organization is not advocating for slashing tires – yet. Even though some exaggerated and left some SUVs with holes in their tires on other occasions, the action that happened on Monday night in two neighborhoods of Edinburgh did not get out of hand. But it saw 60 SUVs affected by the protester’s idea of lowering pollution levels and increasing road safety. The targeted cars were parked overnight in the residential areas of Marchmont and Bruntsfield. Coincidently, these are also tourist hotspots that are preferred by those wanting to experience the local lifestyle.

Moreover, the organization argues that “these posh areas are in the middle of the city, with good public transport” and added that “there’s no need to own a tank in Edinburgh.”

After deflating the tires, the activists leave a flyer behind that explains why they have done it. That's what is visible in the article photo.

The “Tire Extinguishers” hope their actions will discourage people from buying, renting, or leasing these types of cars and promise to continue their interventions which have been characterized as vandalism by social media users and law enforcement.

The idea spread to other countries, and they even managed to convince some Americans to participate. However, the number of tire deflating actions has been extremely low in the U.S.

The “Tire Extinguishers” are present in the UK, Canada, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, The Netherlands, and New Zealand.

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About the author: Florin Amariei
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Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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