The “Tyre Extinguishers” – an activist group whose mantra is that SUVs in urban areas are bad for the environment – pulled off one of their most coordinated protest efforts yet, deflating 2,400 tires on some 600 sport-utility vehicles on a single night, September 6, 2022.
The widespread demonstration coincides with the group’s six-month anniversary, and hit SUVs in nine different countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and even here in Canada.
In Montreal’s Outremont and Ville Mont-Royal areas, 25 SUVs were temporarily and inconveniently crippled by the group’s tire-flattening efforts. This was pulled off specifically by a new chapter called “SOS SUVs,” as per the Tweet from the group below.
The group is fuelled by its enmity towards “unnecessary ‘luxury emissions,’ flaunted by the wealthy, that are a climate disaster, cause air pollution and make our roads more dangerous.”
How do they do such tireless work in such a short time span? The efforts usually boil down to inserting something tiny, like a lentil, in the valve stem cap on an SUV’s tires, leaving the valve slightly open to create a trickle effect where the air escapes the tire quietly and slowly — letting the protesters move on to their next victims quickly.
Despite courtesy counting for absolutely zero points here, they’re thoughtful enough to put a flyer on the deflated cars windshield explaining why they’ve been victimized.
The tire-deflation efforts, besides sending a message, also live in the grey area of some cities’ laws, like London’s; metropolitan police there told the Guardian they’re unsure that deflating a vehicle’s tire, without otherwise causing damage, could even be considered a crime.
Personally, while I understand the protesters’ concern, casting a wide net of blame that entangles innocent drivers feels like a tactic that may be falling flat.
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