I had not seen this so much in environmental terms as in use of resources, but my anxieties were supported by Edmund King, president of the AA this week.
Every traffic calming measure, usually on grounds of pedestrian safety, has a cost. Car engines at 20 m.p.h have to operate in low gear and so burn more fuel. Every speed bump/ plateau will cause breaking, slowing and then accelerating, which all waste fuel. The same will tend to apply to chicanes. The more there are of these measures, the greater the burning of fuel, and pollution.
If the object is to deter car use, then surely there are more environmentally good ways to achieve this, subsidising electric transport, (although electric engines may not be heard by pedestrians,) or raising all revenue from cars via petrol tax rather than the lump-sum car tax.
We have thus a clash between safety and environment, promoted by different government departments with fervour but clashing here.
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