Cultural norms keep pedestrians in the slow lane

Robert Gifford, Executive director, Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, London SW1P

It’s always good to read John Dales’ column to provoke some thought (‘I’m a pedestrian: I’ll be your dog’ LTT 25 May). I absolutely agree that because walking is so commonplace we don’t really think about it. However, there’s also a cultural and linguistic factor that we shouldn’t overlook. How often do we describe someone who is boring as “pedestrian”? How often do you hear the phrase “up to speed” in the sense of...

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