Are quiet lanes the new trenches in the war on motorists? This week, Active Travel England published its Rural Design Guide, which gives local authorities guidance on how to deliver safe and accessible walking, wheeling and cycling routes, with the aim of cutting road deaths in Great Britain — two-thirds of which occur on rural routes.

“With the publication of this Rural Design Guide, we’re supporting authorities to develop infrastructure that works best for local people,” National Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman said. “Our aim is to help councils build safe and appealing routes that not only enable more everyday active journeys but also help them make the most of our wonderful countryside.”

Part of the recommendations from Active Travel England includes a 20mph speed limit on certain roads where people walking, wheeling and cycling share space with motor traffic. Inevitably, this sparked headlines from some corners of the press implying all rural roads would be subject to low speed limits. “Cut rural roads speed limit to 20mph, advisers tell ministers,” reported the Telegraph. Tory Transport Spokesperson Richard Holden went a step further and branded it “a sneaky assault on civil liberties”.

“Labour are shamefully sneaking 20mph speed limits on thousands of miles of rural roads through the back door under the guise of ‘active travel guidance’”, Holden told the Telegraph. “These limits were a disaster in Wales when Labour imposed them and are already being widely reversed because they hit rural communities hardest, where pedestrians, cyclists and motorists already share many roads.”

There are some pretty big differences here. The Welsh scheme was a blanket 20mph limit on urban roads that would usually be subject to a 30mph limit, whereas Active Travel England’s recommendations would only affect certain rural routes which are shared between motorists, walkers, wheelers, and cyclists. It’s also not a mandatory rule.

> Welsh 20mph speed limit “single most significant change we’ve ever seen,” says Cycling UK

“Media headlines implying that the government is saying all rural speed limits should be cut to 20mph are false and misleading,” said an Active Travel England spokesperson. “Local authorities are not legally required to follow this guide, nor is it intended to be taken as a one-size-fits-all approach. [They] have been asking for this document for some time, and so we’ve delivered it for them.”

Is this the latest attack on England’s motorists? Of course not. It’s guidance. The 20mph limit is a small part of the Rural Design Guide, which also sets out recommendations for traffic-free routes and surface improvements that benefit both motorists and non-motorists. As the guidance points out, a 20mph limit is more beneficial to the safety and comfort of walkers and wheelers than it is to cyclists; it’s a way of telling drivers to exercise caution if they weren’t already.

While the UK media panic will rumble on, Active Travel England’s recommendations are aimed at reducing casualties in areas that are notoriously deadly. It’s not scoring political points or restricting the freedom of motorists; it’s an optional set of rules for local councils to make use of, and basic highway design for the 21st century.