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The legacy Leslie Hore-Belisha and road safety
Country Life UK
|June 25, 2025
LESLIE HORE-BELISHA (1893–1957) will forever be remembered for instigating the ubiquitous Belisha beacon to mark a pedestrian road crossing, but his contribution as Minister for Transport in the 1930s was far greater than that. He took office in 1934, a time when members of the public were taking to the wheel in their kamikaze droves, often with more enthusiasm than skill.
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The 20mph speed limit had been abolished in 1930, chiefly because it had become unenforceable with a huge backlog of court cases. The year Hore-Belisha, the Liberal MP for Devonport, took office, there were 7,343 fatalities and 231,603 injuries on the roads, which he described as 'mass murder'.
This story is from the June 25, 2025 edition of Country Life UK.
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