Wales this week will become the first nation in the UK to lower its default speed limit on residential roads to 20mph .
First Minister Mark Drakeford has said the move will cut the number of collisions and save lives.
“It will help make our streets quieter, reducing noise pollution, and slower speeds will give more people the confidence to cycle and walk around their local areas and encourage children to play outdoors”, he said.
“Evidence from around the world is clear – reducing speed limits reduces collisions and saves lives.”
We take a look at when it comes into force, where it will apply and why it has been introduced.
When does the new restriction begin?
The new 20mph limit will begin in Wales on Sunday 17 September and will be enforced by the police and GoSafe.
GoSafe is the Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership, made up of 27 partners, including the 22 unitary authorities in Wales, four Welsh police forces, and the Welsh Government.
GoSafe is responsible for fixed speed cameras, red-light cameras, average speed cameras, and mobile enforcement cameras.
Which roads will be affected?
The 20mph limit will be for restricted roads in Wales – this generally means ones in residential and built-up areas. They often have streetlights on them, placed no more than 200 yards apart.
The Welsh Government has said not all roads with a current 30mph limit will be suitable to change to 20mph, and these roads will be known as exceptions.
Local authorities will consider, with their communities, which roads should remain at 30mph with signage to ensure motorists are aware.
A map will be published on DataMapWales showing which roads will remain at a 30mph limit.
Why is it happening?
The Spanish government introduced a speed limit of 30kmh on roads with a single lane in each direction in May 2021.
Its directorate-general for traffic pointed out that lower speeds mean lives saved – for example, the risk of death in a road traffic collision was 80 percentage points lower if the speed of the impacting vehicle was 30kmh compared with 50kmh.
The Welsh Government said the aim of introducing the new speed restriction in Wales was to:
- Reduce the number of collisions and severe injuries from them;
- Encourage more people to walk and cycle;
- Improve health and wellbeing;
- Make streets safer;
- Safeguard the environment for future generations.
It has already trialled the 20mph limit in eight areas:
- St Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire;
- Llanelli North, Carmarthenshire;
- St Brides Major, Vale of Glamorgan;
- Central North, Cardiff;
- Cilfrew Village, Neath Port Talbot;
- Abergavenny, Monmouthshire;
- Severnside, Monmouthshire;
- Buckley, Flintshire.
Speaking on Radio Wales Breakfast, Mr Drakeford defended the scheme and its £32.5m cost, saying: “It’s a small price to pay in order to make sure that people are safe on the streets.”
