Safety campaigners get the hump over plans to cut air pollution

The government’s plan to remove speed bumps to improve air quality is “dangerous”, road safety campaigners have said.

They have written an open letter to Environment Secretary Michael Gove citing their “alarm” that the decision, taken in order to improve air quality, will reduce the levels of road safety.

It called on the government to provide any evidence that removing speed bumps would improve air quality, and challenges ministers to prove “that this outweighs any possible public health disbenefits due to increased road injuries and fatalities”.

The letter was posted on the website of walking charity Living Streets, but was also signed by the Campaign for Better Transport and Cycling UK. It comes in response to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ air quality plan, which was released in May.

The Press Association has contacted Defra for comment and is awaiting a response.

The letter also attacked the “low priority given to charging-based Clean Air Zones”, which are areas of high pollution in which local councils can introduce legislation designed to improve air quality.

It said: “The technical report accompanying the draft UK Clean Air Plan published in May was clear that charging zones are the most effective means to address air pollution, yet the latest plan explicitly de-prioritises this solution, stating that ‘charging Clean Air Zones should only be used where no other equally effective solution is identified.’”

Despite the negativity, the organisations did welcome a decision to commit £100 million to buying more economical buses and retrofitting old vehicles with emission-reducing technology.