The SUV tire deflation activists are back, the night blitz in Milan and 7 other European cities:«We will only stop when they disappear»

The coordinated action of the tire extinguishers collective to celebrate the first year of activity

They are called tire extinguishers, in Italian «tyre deflators».It is a small but radical group of activists with a clear goal:declare war on SUV that circulate in the cities.«These vehicles are a disaster for our health, our public safety and our climate – we read site -. Bigger and bigger cars they are dominating our cities.And all this just to allow a privileged few to flaunt their wealth."The activists' method of action is simple:deflate vehicle tires (usually at night), causing inconvenience and expense to owners.Yesterday, February 27, the international collective of tire extinguishers celebrated its first year of life with acoordinated action in several countries.Among the cities affected there is also Milan, where activists say they have "neutralized" 30 SUVs, although for the moment there is no confirmation in the local news.Many other cities are added to the Lombard capital:Bristol (80 SUVs involved), London (58), Toulouse (72), Paris (72), Nancy (21), Berlin (22) and Werden (12).

The war on SUVs

In its first year of life, the activist collective claims to have deflated beyond that 10 thousand tyres.She is the spokesperson of the group, who was given the ironic nickname Mercedes Driver, assures that there is no intention of stopping:«Happy birthday to us!This winter we have been silent, but now we are preparing for another year full of initiatives."Then the message addressed to local administrators so that ban SUVs in city centres:«We act because politicians do not take any initiative to make our streets and our environment safer.We will not stop until these polluting vehicles are definitively relegated to the past."The initiatives of tire extinguishers they generated ainternational echo, with the English newspaper Telegraph, which went as far as advising its readers against purchasing an SUV so as not to become a target of the activist collective.In Italy, the phenomenon has had its own local declination, with some groups of "tyre deflators" - renamed "SUVversives» – which follow the same modes of action made famous by tire extinguishers.One of the last cities affected was Milan, where on January 19th dozens of SUV owners woke up with the tires of their cars flat.

Cover photo:TWITTER / THE TIRE EXTINGUISHERS