Casualties on Welsh roads fall after 20mph speed limit, figures show
Number of people injured and killed on 20 and 30mph roads from January to March reduced by more than a quarter
The number of people injured and killed on Welsh roads has dropped significantly since the speed limit on most 30mph roads was reduced to 20mph, according to new figures.
The number of casualties from collisions on 20 and 30mph roads in Wales from January to March this year fell by more than a quarter compared with the same period last year.
The provisional figures, published by the Welsh government, show there were 377 casualties on such roads in the first quarter of this year – a 26% fall from 510 in January to March last year.
The latest figures were also 19% lower than those in the previous quarter, October to December 2023, when there were 463 casualties.
The Welsh Labour government has credited the fall on the introduction last September of default 20mph speed limits on restricted roads, which are usually residential or busy pedestrian streets with streetlights.
Historically, these roads had a 30mph speed limit, but now most of them have a 20mph limit.
The figures show that the number of people killed and seriously injured in 20 and 30mph zones fell from 101 in the first quarter of 2023 to 78 in the same period this year, a 23% drop. The number killed on these roads dropped from 11 to five, a 55% decline.
The amount of people who suffered slight injuries on these roads fell from 409 to 299, a 27% reduction.
There were 316 road collisions on these roads in the first quarter of 2024, of which five were fatal, 69 serious and 242 slight. This figure was 17% lower than in the previous quarter (379) and 25% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (421).
The total number of police reported collisions on all Welsh roads in January to March this year was 606. This figure was 18% lower than in the previous quarter (737) and 17% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (733).
The statistics only include road collisions reported by the police, which resulted in personal injury.
The number of speeding offences detected in June for breaking the 20mph default speed limit exceeded the number recorded in the seven months previously combined, according to separate figures published by GoSafe, the Wales road casualty reduction partnership.
The total number of offences detected in June in south and mid Wales was 5,711, compared with 5,354 from November to May. In north Wales, where enforcement began in April, 892 offences were recorded in June compared with 887 in April and May combined.
A Welsh government spokesperson said: “Today’s data on police reported road collisions continue to be encouraging and show things are moving in the right direction. They are the lowest recorded [road casualty] figures apart from during the Covid pandemic. We’ve still got a way to go but every casualty reduced makes a difference.”
A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said the default 20mph speed limit had increased congestion which “has likely contributed to these [road casualty] figures”.
“The recent pollution data bears this out, by showing pollution increasing in 50% of 20mph tested areas,” he added.
“Nearly half a million Welsh people signed a petition against the policy, the largest petition in the history of devolution. These people don’t deserve more fines, they deserve to be listened to.”
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