Wales’s 20mph speed limit saves lives and money. So why has it become a culture-war battlefield? | Will Hayward
www.theguardian.com
In a world of online outrage, evidence is no longer enough – for a policy to work, politicians must explain it and stick by it, says Guardian columnist Will Hayward

I still can’t quite get over the fact that a scheme designed to save the lives of children became the latest culture war battlefield.

not even counting the long-term savings to the NHS from people taking up cycling or walking instead of driving, or the savings for many Welsh drivers caused by the reduction in their insurance premiums

Not sure if it belongs here but I thought it showed how hard it is to even change small things.

So why all the outrage? Well, it turns out that much of it was manufactured. In January of this year I did a little digging through four of the main Facebook groups opposing the change to 20mph in Wales. I found that in each case one of the admins was a Tory councillor from Sunderland who has, and this is hilarious, campaigned to have 20mph limits in parts of his home town.

Conservative politican scum baggery ?

Ultimately, the 20mph change was an attempt to rebalance the communities in which we live, so they are no longer dominated by cars. The policy aims to make our neighbourhoods more livable (20mph is three decibels lower than 30mph). It has a positive impact on particulate pollution because cars have to brake less. And it clearly saves lives.

  • Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    1·
    5 days ago

    Everything starts to make more sense if you imagine what you might do as a billionaire capitalist: Imagine you are an automotive tycoon and progressives keep trying to make it harder for people to drive and own cars which in turn may reduce the demand for cars which could cost you and buddies billions in the long run! Save lives? You don’t know anything about traffic engineering and your yes men assure you that cars are perfectly safe (and when they aren’t it is clearly the victims fault)… All you know is, your wealth is under attack! So you use the lobbyists, politicians and capitalist propaganda outlets (privately owned news media) to attack the issue, to defend your wealth. In turn, by sheer volume of disinformation and propaganda, you turn the public against their own interests and protect your wealth.

    Sadly, that is exactly the state of things. Working class stiffs are incredibly susceptible to propaganda and disinformation (if they weren’t then companies wouldn’t spend billions every year on advertising)