The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has declared war on the “war on motorists”. He has said that he wants to end “harebrained” schemes for slower speed limits and safer, quieter roads. But history suggests, as I discovered while researching a forthcoming paper for the Foundation for Integrated Transport, in the long term he’s unlikely to succeed in his battle against 20mph zones.
The reason is simple: once people have experienced the benefits of slower speeds in their area, such as less noise and aggro and more child independence and cycling, they typically don’t want to bring the speed limits back up. Campaigns to reduce danger and nuisance from cars in cities have been running since the 1970s – and although they are often controversial, my findings suggest that they typically follow a predictable pattern.
