How wicked are speed management challenges? An experts' opinion study

Speed management, defined as coordinated efforts to mitigate the impact of speed within a road network, is critical for road injury prevention but remains a challenging policy domain. This study explored barriers and challenges for progressing speed management policies and practices through the lens of complexity science. Drawing on the literature on wicked policy problems, 33 semi-structured interviews with road safety experts and practitioners were undertaken and analysed via thematic analysis. Findings suggest that the barriers and challenges reported by interviewees hold elements in common with what the public policy literature defines as a wicked problem, showing elements of complexity, uncertainty and value divergence across the stakeholders involved. Framing speed management as a wicked problem not only presents opportunities for innovative policy approaches and cross-domain learning but also underscores the potential of utilising systems thinking and complexity science for the analysis of perennial road safety challenges.