Tyre Extinguishers is an international climate direct action group which deflates the tyres on

sport utility vehicle A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

s (SUVs). The group acts under the belief they are working towards the reduction of carbon emissions from SUVs, which have a disproportionately large impact on the climate crisis relative to other vehicles. Other motivators include health risks from increased air pollution and public safety concerns, particularly for pedestrians. The group has called for a ban on SUVs in cities, and has said that they "want to make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4x4 in the world’s urban areas". The group suggests inserting a

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or other small object to depress the pin on the valve cap of an SUV's tyre, so that the tyre deflates slowly over time. The activists leave leaflets under the vehicles'

windscreen wiper A windscreen wiper, windshield wiper, wiper blade (American English), or simply wiper, is a device used to remove rain, snow, ice, washer fluid, water, or debris from a vehicle's front window. Almost all motor vehicles, including cars, truck ...

s "so that the owner is aware that the car is unusable and gets an explanation as to why this has been done."

Activities

Between 7 March 2022 and July 2022, the group claimed to have deflated over 5000 tyres of SUVs worldwide, including areas of London, Cambridge, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Sheffield, the Swiss city of Zurich, the German cities of Essen and Dortmund, the Swedish city Gothenburg, in the New Zelander cities of Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, and in Los Angeles. Several Tyre Extinguishers splinter groups formed in Scottish cities including Dundee (The Dundeeflators) and Glasgow (The Deflationists), In July 2022, the group's further actions in the United States took place in New York City, Chicago, Scranton, Pennsylvania and the San Francisco Bay Area. The group claimed its first actions in Canada (Waterloo, Ontario) and France (Paris) the same month. On one night in September 2022, the group deflated tyres on over 600 SUVs in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Canada. The group claimed these were its debut actions in Denmark, Norway and the Czech Republic. In October 2022, the organisation claimed to have reached its initial target of 10,000 SUVs deflated since March 2022, with the actions taking place across 15 countries. The group described Australia as its "next big target" in May 2023. In August 2023 Tyre Extinguishers claimed responsibility for an "independent cell" of their group that had used

power drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driverchuck. Hand-operated types are dramatically decreasing in popularity and cordless battery-powered ones proliferating due to i ...

s to puncture the tyres of more than 60 SUVs at a car dealership in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, England. The group described the act as a "necessary escalation", and a retaliation to an incident the previous month where a Land Rover had broken through a fence and killed two schoolchildren.

Organisation

The name "Tyre Extinguishers" began appearing in 2021, but the group's actions did not begin until March 2022. In 2007, a Swedish group called "The Indians of the Asphalt Jungle" had embraced the same tactic, deflating over 1,500 SUVs (according to its own numbers) and, as reported by ''

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'', "helping to send the usually relentless growth of domestic SUV sales into a rare reverse". The group was described by

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...

academics Oscar Berglund and Graeme Hayes as a "pop-up climate movement," given the group's emphasis on individuals or small groups taking action wherever they are using the materials on the Tyre Extinguishers website, rather than a more centralised structure.

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Andreas Malm Andreas Malm (born ) is a Sweden, Swedish author and an associate professor of human ecology at Lund University. He is on the editorial board of the academic journal ''Historical Materialism (journal), Historical Materialism'', and has been describ ...

(whose book ''

How to Blow Up a Pipeline ''How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fire'' is a nonfiction book written by Andreas Malm and published in 2021 by Verso Books. In the book, Malm argues that sabotage is a logical form of climate activism, and criticize ...

'' argues in favour of the sabotage of fossil fuel infrastructure as a form of environmental activism, and who the Tyre Extinguishers have cited as an inspiration) called the group's actions a form of "extremely peaceful and gentle sabotage." Malm continued, "anyone can deflate an SUV: it is virtually child's play. It requires no formal organization, no leadership, no funds, no implements other than bits of gravel or beans or green lentils. Given the infinitely replicable nature of the action—sabotage as meme—its potential for making SUV ownership less convenient and attractive could not be discounted."

Legality

The group claims to have faced no legal issues, and has said that it understood police forces in the United Kingdom to be "divided" on whether it was a crime to let the air out of a tyre. Journalists have described the actions as criminal and authorities in certain regions have encouraged witnesses to come forward with information. In the U.S., ''

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was fou ...

'' magazine noted "State laws against 'tampering with a motor vehicle' are likely to be enforceable, but of course, first the person would have to be caught in the act of letting the air out of the tires."

References

Locations

External links

*{{Official website, https://tyreextinguishers.com 2022 protests Direct action Environmental protests in the United Kingdom Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom Radical environmentalism Climate change organizations 2022 establishments in the United Kingdom Climate change protests