Vigilante eco-warriors deflated a woman's tyre and left a poison pen letter on her windscreen - branding her 'vain' for driving a 'gas-guzzling' SUV. Carly Bateman was appalled to discover the tyre had been deliberately sabotaged outside her home and was forced to get an Uber to work.
A group called the Tyre Extinguishers appear to claim responsibility for the targeted tyre on a note that was left on the windscreen of the Skoda Yeti titled 'Attention - your gas guzzler'. The note states that the group have deflated the tyre as the 28-year-old's 'huge vehicle has massive consequences for others' and that SUVs are for 'pure vanity'.
Carly parks her car outside of her home as she only has on-street parking and worries the environmentalists could target her again. The gym instructor says she normally gets the tram to work but needs a bigger car to carry equipment for her entertainment company which she runs alongside teaching fitness classes.
Tyre Extinguishers defended their actions and bragged that they had 'disarmed around 1000 SUVs in the UK in the past few weeks' alone. Carly, from Manchester, said: "I'm totally up for saving the planet, I do quite a lot in terms of recycling and getting the tram when I don't actually need my car. It worries me that I can't hide it or do anything about it. If it happened another time, it could have been really detrimental to my work.
"I hope they don't do it again. I was worried that if there was an emergency or if it happens to the wrong person, someone disabled, someone going into labour or someone with severe mental health problems, that could really push someone over the edge. They can't be going around doing that, there are ways to go about things.
"I'm paranoid, all I can do is park on the street because on street parking is all we have. There's no way of hiding it or anything so it could happen again. A Skoda Yeti is not even dead flash. They said on the note 'you've got a 4x4 in an urban area purely for vanity, you don't need it'. You don't know what people do for a living, there's no way I would have a big car if I didn't need it and if it was for vanity I wouldn't get a Skoda Yeti, I'd get a Range Rover or something."
Carly was forced to get a taxi to work but luckily, her dad was able to reinflate her tyre meaning that the stunt only cost her £10. Carly said: "I came outside ready to leave for work and there was a note on my windscreen and a deflated tyre so I was like what the hell, read it and I was like 'ok' so I thought 'what do I do?'.
"I didn't have time to get the tram. If I don't have stuff with me, I'll get the tram no problem. We have massive costumes which is why I have a 4x4. It was that or a van. I couldn't get a lift so I got an Uber and then my dad came out in his van to inflate my tyre so if their aim is to save the planet, they didn't solve any problems there because then it involved two vehicles instead of one
"It was a bit crazy. I was pretty annoyed but I'm a 'let go of what you can't control and problem solve' kind of person. I just needed to get to class and I would sort it later."
The note reads: "We have deflated one or more of your tyres. You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s your car. We did this because driving around urban areas in your massive vehicle has huge consequences for others.
"Car companies try to convince us we need massive cars. But SUVs and 4x4s are a disaster for our climate. SUVs are the second-largest cause of the global rise in carbon dioxide emissions over the past decade - more than the entire aviation industry.
"The world is facing a climate emergency. According to the UN, millions of people are already dying from climate change-related causes - drought, hurricanes, floods, forced migration, starvation. So far, the impacts on you have probably been minimal. We need emergency action to reduce emissions immediately. We’re taking actions into our own hands because our governments and politicians will not.
"Even if you don’t care about the impacts on people far away from you, there’s also consequences for your neighbours. SUVs cause more air pollution than smaller cars. SUVs are more likely to kill people than normal cars in collisions.
"Psychological studies show SUV drivers are more likely to take risks on the road. SUVs are unnecessary, and pure vanity. That’s why we have taken this action. You will have no difficulty getting around without your gas guzzler, with walking, cycling or public transport."
The Tyre Extinguishers' website gives advice on how to spot an SUV and gives a step-by-step guide on how to deflate a tyre. It states: "We are people from all walks of life with one aim: To make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4x4 in the world’s urban areas. We are defending ourselves against climate change, air pollution and unsafe drivers.
"We do this with a simple tactic: Deflating the tyres of these massive, unnecessary vehicles, causing inconvenience for their owners. Deflating tyres repeatedly and encouraging others to do the same will turn the minor inconvenience of a flat tyre into a giant obstacle for driving massive killer vehicles around our streets."
Carly shared a photo of the note and her deflated tyre on her local Facebook group where people shared their anger. Carly said: "Apparently, they're targeting really high-end areas. I posted it to tell people to be aware that if they drive a 4x4 they need to hide it for the next few days. People were going mental. It was going off. I have friends who are really far left, my friend is a yoga teacher, walks around barefoot, he skates everywhere and he said it was so bad and so ridiculous."
A spokesperson for the Tyre Extinguishers said: "We are in a climate emergency. If the drivers of SUVs and 4x4s were a country, it would be the seventh-largest polluting country in the world. As we mention on our website, SUVs are dangerous on roads, they are a climate disaster, and they cause massive air pollution. We are citizens taking action because the government refuses to take action on polluting vehicles.
"The Tyre Extinguishers is a leaderless movement and every week new people join us. We estimate we have disarmed around 1000 SUVs in the UK in just a few weeks and we have had requests for our leaflet to be translated into French, German, Italian and Spanish. We expect to see this spread and we won't stop until it's impossible to own a huge, polluting gas-guzzler in the world's urban areas. We want to see bans on SUVs in urban areas, pollution levies to tax SUVs out of existence, and massive investment in free, comprehensive public transport. But until politicians make this a reality, Tyre Extinguishers action will continue."
