Lisbon Municipal Assembly condemns ‘illegal group’ for blowing SUV tires

Lisbon’s municipal assembly on Tuesday approved a PSD proposal to condemn the “illegal group” Tire Extinguishers, which is blowing off the tires of SUVs and 4x4s under the pretense of saving the planet due to the climate emergency.

“Tire Extinguishers [extintores de pneus] have now arrived in Lisbon with the same goal proclaimed since its inception: “to make it impossible to use huge and polluting four-wheel drive vehicles in urban areas around the world,” reads the proposal presented by the PSD municipal group.

This group originated in the United Kingdom and has been active since March 2021, gaining international fame, with reports of their activities in various parts of the world, from the United States of America to New Zealand, “under the pretext that they must take charge of saving the planet” due to the climate emergency in which “they are hooligans in cars, having predominantly SUVs and four-wheel drive vehicles.”

Members of this group deflate or tear the tires of these vehicles to “cause inconvenience and expense to their owners”, a situation that has already been reported in Lisbon.

In submitting a motion to condemn the group’s activities, PSD municipal deputy Carlos Reis said that the group proceeds from “stupidity and vandalism as a method of action”, referring to damage to car tires, warning that vandalism is a crime. So it’s a “criminal practice”.

In the plenary, the proposal was approved by votes against BE and two independent MPs from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), Livre and PCP abstained, while PEV, PS, PSD, PAN, IL, MPT, PPM, Aliança, CDS-PP and Chega.

The document is intended to “strongly and firmly condemn the illegal grouping Tire Fire Extinguishers, immediately and in the most categorical way reject their imitation actions in Lisbon, without fail to warn the police authorities about their egregious criminality, and also draw public attention to the contraindication of these actions to protect the environment” .

Damage to SUVs contributes to an increase in the ecological footprint, as damaged vehicles have to be towed and damaged tires replaced, which means an increase in the consumption of rubber and other waste.

The movement also emphasizes that the transition to a carbon-free society cannot be achieved by creating a gap within communities, “intimidating terror, setting people against people and, more importantly, persecuting the entire population that needs to be raised in the field of education. environmental”.

Despite the abstention, the municipal group Livre accused the SDP of promoting a culture war between all city residents, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, instead of working for everyone’s safety, given that the movement “ends up pouring gasoline on the fire of this polarization.” “.

Isabelle Méndez López, MP for the Livre party, defended that “many SUVs are vehicles that shouldn’t have a place in cities” because they tend to be too big, tall and heavy, and therefore a safety hazard traffic, they occupy a public space that should be used for the enjoyment of people and consume a lot of energy.