What could be the reason we don’t have 30km/h already?
These insights by Dr Ian Walker, a transport and traffic psychologist from the University of Bath, are helpful to understand why in Australia (and in the UK) for many people it is not obvious why speed limits should be aligned with the international best practice is: 30km/h in areas where motor vehicles and pedestrians/bicycles mix.
A very helpful way to frame this issue is:
“Should one person’s freedom to go fast in built-up areas, trump the freedom of another person to be safe on the streets?”
People who have been prioritised by our traffic system often feel threatened by change, especially when it challenges their world view and their existing advantage over others.
“When all you’ve known is privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
As with other unconscious biases arising from culture, the first step is for decision makers to understand these biases exists and that they are making decisions from a position of privilege.
Systems must be put in place to ensure marginalised voices feed into decisions. In particular, we must reverse the debate from its moto-centric norm:
“The burden of proof should fall on people advocating the status quo, not people advocating change.”
View the full presentation in this webinar from 20splenty (start from 24:35):
Professor Walker also recently collaborated with Global Cybcling Network on a video about motor-normativity: