Ministers have said a 20mph speed limit will lower road collisions and noise and encourage people to walk or cycle.
The Welsh Parliament passed the law in a vote on Tuesday afternoon. It was backed by Labour and Plaid Cymru but opposed by the Welsh Conservatives, who said the blanket rollout is “ludicrous”.
Many UK towns and cities have 20mph limits on residential roads but Wales will become the first nation to impose it as the default on all restricted roads - with Scotland set to follow suit in 2025.
Latest police data shows the largest proportion - exactly half - of the 5,570 people hurt in collisions in Wales happened on 30mph roads. The statistics also show that of the 1,131 people killed or seriously injured on Welsh roads in 2018, 40% of the incidents happened in 30mph zones.
Campaigners argue the chances of someone surviving being hit by a car at 20mph rather than 30mph is seven times higher while stopping distances are almost halved.
A 20mph national default speed limit would apply on restricted roads, in residential areas and busy pedestrian streets, where streetlights are less than 200 yards apart - and anyone caught speeding could face a minimum £100 fine and three penalty points.
The Welsh government have acknowledged the new lower limit won’t be appropriate everywhere and local authorities can make exceptions, though not outside schools.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) has encouraged wider use of 20mph limits as a “considerably less expensive” way than introducing traffic calming measures, adding it “greatly improves the character of a residential area and quality of life for residents”.
However, according to respondents to a Welsh government-commissioned consultation, more people were against the speed limit than supported it.
It’s not motorists that bother me … it’s speedy mobility scooters and those electric scooters in particular, that are a menace to both drivers and pedestrians as they whizz from pavement to road.
i think an elderly lady died only a few weeks back after a collision with one.
I’ve never had any problems with mobility scooters Mort, (so far), but I do hate those electric scooters whizzing about everywhere, and the way they just abandon them all over the place.
They don’t give a toss about partially sighted people with guide dogs, or Mum’s trying to get through narrow spaces with buggies etc. Even the mobility scooters sometimes cannot get past a clutch of them dumped across pavements.
And after dark, it must be even worse for people to avoid falling over them.
That means cars will have to use a lower gear creating more pollution and more noise as it will take longer to pass anywhere . More muppit thinking by morons
It wont make a single difference. My avenue with only a single footpath (my side) has been a 20MPH limit for many years and it might just as well be a derestricted zone for all the notice drivers take. The road encircles The Green and the limit was put in place to reduce the number of child/vehicle incidents after the collapsing perimeter fencing started to fail so was completely removed. I’ve done all I can to ensure the limit enforcement from notifying police and the council responsible for The Green with reg numbers + supporting photos; 2yrs ago I gave up wasting my time as not a single response was offered with the exception of one town councillor who, according to him, shared my concerns but as a lone voice was powerless
Where I live in Hampshire the council have already implemented 20mph speed limit on almost all residential roads to reduce road casualties and protect pedestrians and cyclists.
pedestrians and cyclists should have to pass a road awareness test before being allolwed to walk/ride on our roads and also carry insurance, motorists already do
I think so too, and I also think that drivers should have to resit their test every year in order to get their licence renewed. Who would enforce all this legislation though?
There are 20 mile limits near most primary schools in my area.
Probably, the only drivers that wont like it are… impatient drivers, boy racers and drivers late for work and appointments.
I know someone who would be very happy if they introduced a 20 mph limit on the road through the village I used to live in.
He has a lot of ducks on his pond and they sometimes go off for a stroll and end up getting killed on the road. He campaigned to reduce the speed limit through the village from 40 mph to a 30mph zone. Since it became 30mph, he has been shouting at motorists and raising 3 fingers at them if they drive too fast, to remind them of the speed limit - he has often said he wishes it was only 20mph, so he could remind speeding motorists with 2 fingers!
I tended to rail against a blanket 20mph but since I have a car with a speed limiter that reads traffic signs, I tend to set this so it keeps at the required limit for the road. Mine has to be set by the driver. However, now new cars have to have mandatory limiters fitted that are a default setting and have to be disabled by the driver, it’s only a matter of time before the limits cannot be overridden, all to prepare us for fully autonomous driving…
I know my children did road safety first and the cycling proficiency test at school.
A lot of pedestrians are covered by insurance.
I think in built-up residential areas 20mile speed limit isn’t unreasonable.
Also the Hampshire M275 drivers must stick to a 40mph limit southbound on the motorway, with a 30mph limit on slip road .
