A visual wake-up call to ‘carspreading’

Powerful new images from Clean Cities’ Carspreading campaign are now available for free non-profit, educational and editorial use via the Climate Visuals library.

The school run should be a moment for fresh air, independence, and a sense of community. But for many children and parents, it’s becoming a daily obstacle course—navigating through streets clogged with oversized SUVs. A new set of striking images, now available on the Climate Visuals library, brings this reality into sharp focus.

Captured by photographer Crispin Hughes, these photos vividly illustrate the growing dominance of SUVs in urban environments, particularly around schools. Commissioned as part of Clean Cities’ Carspreading campaign, the images tell a stark story of how the rise of these larger, more polluting vehicles is impacting public space, air quality, and the safety of children.

The images highlight:

• Children and parents dwarfed by oversized SUVs – showing how these vehicles dominate the road, creating safety hazards and restricting visibility.
• The urban squeeze – demonstrating how more SUVs mean less space for walking, cycling, and safe crossings.
• The climate cost – reminding us that SUVs are one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon emissions, threatening efforts to cut transport pollution.

These visuals serve as a powerful tool for campaigners, media, and policymakers to communicate the urgent need for safer, healthier, and less car-dominated urban environments.

The full set of images is now available via Climate Visuals, ready to be used in media stories, advocacy materials, and social campaigns. Whether you’re highlighting the impact of SUVs on air pollution, traffic safety, the climate, urban space or something else, these photos provide compelling evidence of the urgent need for action.