Politicians must be brave on 20mph speed limit

‘We more than achieved the target of reducing casualties, but the use of 20mph speed limits was a crucial part of that.’ Photograph: Standard/Rex Shutterstock

The move to restrict 20mph speed limits is an illustration of how far politics has moved from evidence-based policy (Ministers consider curbs on councils’ use of 20mph speed limits, 30 July). Time was when a Conservative government would care about road casualties.

Back in the late 1980s, local authorities were set a government target of reducing casualties by 40% in five years through a combination of speed limits and physical measures. In York (and elsewhere), this was achieved by a hard slog of engineering design, extensive consultation and implementation.