For some time now, attacks against artistic works have intensified: a path that activists have taken to protest climate change. One of the latest victims has been Andy Warhol’s BMW M1, which was on display in Milan. Of course, it is not the only offensive that the motor world is suffering: the ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ movement has set out to remove SUVs from the roads around the world.
The members of ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ have a clear objective: to eliminate SUVs from cities. And for this, they have been carrying out a clandestine climate action campaign against their owners for months because, for them, these types of vehicles are “a climate disaster.” They allege that they are not only contaminants, but also consider them more dangerous than the rest because “they are more likely to kill pedestrians.”
The group also argues that they are not necessary in cities because they worsen the consequences of climate change “in the name of vanity and conspicuous consumption. Everyone hates them, except the people who drive them. Politely calling for safer streets, action on the climate emergency, or cleaner air has failed. It is time to act”.
Where and how to act
The ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ campaign is open to anyone who wants to join and for this, on their website, they give instructions on where to act: “Go to elegant and middle-class areas”. And they also explain how to proceed: removing the tire valve cap, inserting a lentil or something of similar size and putting the cap back so that the tires lose air throughout the night and the owner of the SUV cannot use it the next morning.
An action that they complement with an information pamphlet (available on their website to print) in which they inform drivers that they have been attacked and explain the reasons for the sabotage.
also electrical
In case there is any doubt, ‘Tire Extinguishers’ has a whole section that teaches how to detect an SUV. They include a description of the vehicles defining them as “models much larger than common cars, higher and occupying a large amount of space.” They add, moreover, photos of models such as the Land Rover Discovery, Volvo XC90, Jeep Compass, the Nissan Juke, Qashqai or X-Trail and the Toyota RAV4.
And they’re not just against SUVs powered by combustion engines. They also include all-electric, as they consider the type of vehicle, in general, to be dangerous for pedestrians and other road users.
NEW: "TIRE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS" STRIKE IN VALLADOLID, SPAIN
38 SUVs hit in the Covaresa are of the city of Valladolid, in northwestern Spain, by a brand new TX group! We are growing all the time!
Statement in Spanish follows: pic.twitter.com/bHi6Z9fAvb
— The Tire Extinguishers (@T_Extinguishers) November 25, 2022
900 vehicles attacked in one night
His last action took place at the end of November in eight different countries: Germany (Berlin, Bonn, Essen, Hannover and Saarbrücken), Austria (Innsbruck), France (Paris and Lyon), United States (New York), Netherlands (Amsterdam and Enschede), United Kingdom (Bristol, Leeds, London and Dundee ), Sweden (Malmö) and Switzerland (Zurich and Winterthur). Nearly 900 SUVs around the world showed up with all four flat tires.
According to ‘Tire Extinguishers’, this has been their largest coordinated action to date. It has not been the only position they assure that they have already attacked more than 10,000 vehicles in cities around the world.
Its footprint has reached other points in the US, such as San Francisco, and also other nations globally and in Europe: three months ago, overnight, 600 vehicles were damaged in an action that spread from Canada to the Czech Republic. The activist group has already announced that it intends to keep up the pressure in the coming weeks… and in Spain they have already begun to act, as they report from their Twitter account.
