{I} f you want to predict what the next steps in the progressive war on the private automobile will be in the United States, look to elite public opinion.
Electric-vehicle fanatics have pushed nine states into mandating zero-emission cars in the next few years. New York City will begin charging a congestion fee in Manhattan in May. In a new poll, commissioned by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, Scott Rasmussen has just surveyed 1,000 members of what he calls “the elite 1 percent” of Americans, namely those who have a postgraduate degree, live in dense urban areas, and earn more than $150,000 a year. In short, they are the people who frequently wield disproportionate influence over ideas and public policy.
Their views on personal freedom and mass consumer choices are frightening. An astonishing 72 percent want to ban gas-powered cars, and 58 percent want to block sales of SUVs. Among all Americans, between 70 percent and 83 percent oppose both such bans.
If you want to predict what elites have in store for drivers, look to Britain, where the anti-car lobby is even more powerful. Britain has banned all sales of new gas or diesel cars, starting in 2035, and has expanded its $15-a-day congestion tax for older cars to the entire London metropolitan area. Now this month, drivers in Wales will face steep punishments for going above 20 miles per hour in residential areas.
That could be only the beginning. There are plans to expand the number of 20 mph roads in Scotland and five regions in England. In London, well over half of the roads already have a 20 mph speed limit.
A parliamentary committee made up of members from all political parties has also issued a “road justice” report calling for drivers to be heavily fined if they go even one mile above the posted speed limit. Only then, it says, will people feel safe enough to go walking, cycling, or scootering.
Britain’s Automobile Association points out that speed cameras can’t possibly be trusted to be accurate to within one mile an hour. Plus, it says, “if people are too paranoid about going 1 mph or 2 mph above the speed limit, that’s not conducive to road safety” — having to stare nonstop at the speedometer could prevent the driver from being able to see a cyclist or pedestrian.
Angry protests in Wales have forced the government to concede that no one faces prosecution unless they are going 26 mph an hour or higher — six miles above the limit. Below that speed, drivers can still be pulled over for “guidance.” Punishment will start at a minimum of a 100-pound ($127.50) fine and three points on a driver’s record. The Labour government in Wales insists that the new law will save lives and reduce noise pollution.
But public anger is still high over the new speed limits. The Daily Express has interviewed drivers who say they can’t drive up steep hills or transport farm animals long distances because of the 20 mph limits. Other drivers claim there is more environmental damage when they drive at higher revolutions in lower gears as they go up and down steep hills. “You put it in a lower gear and you’re causing more pollution by driving slower. We’re supposed to be fighting against that,” driver Darrell Ingram said.
A report commissioned by the Welsh government itself concedes that the new speed limit could cost the economy more than $6 billion a year. The Daily Telegraph quotes Phil Mullen, a pharmacist, who says the slower limit affects how many prescriptions he can deliver daily: “Where before we were able to get all the deliveries out in one day, now we can’t because we have to drive slower. Deliveries for stock from our wholesale drug manufacturers are coming an hour later than before.”
Another Welsh diver, Joanna Davies, supports a lower speed limit in front of schools and hospitals but says, “If you’re driving at 20 mph on a normal road, it’s causing mayhem. Congestion has got worse. I don’t think there’s many people for it around here and the buses are late too as they’re going 20 mph as well.”
Mark Drakeford, the leader of the Welsh government, announced last month that he was stepping down. Critics claim the move is partly due to the opposition his speed-limit law has stirred up. Vaughan Gething, the economy minister of Wales and one of two major candidates to succeed Drakeford, is promising a full review of the policy.
But if Wales decides to stick with its “go slow” policy, you can bet it will encourage bureaucrats in the rest of the United Kingdom to pursue their own plans to perform slow torture on drivers. And that will probably mean that the idea of 20 mph speed limits will attract the attention of today’s American elites, who have never met an anti-car idea that they didn’t like — so long as it doesn’t directly affect them, of course.