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20 mph limit: more than half of motorists reduce their speed

Posted on by angelo
20 mph limit: more than half of motorists reduce their speed

Image source, Getty Images

Legend, The latest figures are based on checks carried out last November and in January.

  • Author, Steve Duffy
  • Role, BBC News

More than half of motorists stuck to acceptable speed limits after the default 20mph limit came into force in Wales, official figures show.

Data from monitoring 3.5 million vehicles was published by Transport for Wales, showing that on average 57.8% stayed below 24mph.

It comes as the latest monitoring figures show a sharp rise in the number of motorists stopped for speeding in May – almost 4,400.

The highest speed of drivers caught exceeding the 20 mph limit was 88 mph.

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Results from 10 monitoring sites showed the best compliance was in the village of Peniel, north of Carmarthen, where almost 70% remained below 24mph.

The lowest compliance was around Blaenavon, Cwmbran and Pontypool, Torfaen, where less than 43% remained within the acceptable range.

The Transport for Wales report said that before the new law came into force last September, monitoring at the same sites revealed that just 20% of motorists were traveling at less than 24mph.

The average speed also fell from 28.9 mph before the law change to 24.6 mph, a reduction of 4.3 mph.

Only 19% of vehicles were traveling less than 20 mph – but drivers only faced enforcement if they exceeded 26 mph.

In Peniel, 29% of vehicles were traveling at less than 32 km/h.

The latest figures only cover January, when enforcement began.

It comes as the Welsh Government prepares to reconsider limits on some roads later this year after a review revealed difficulties on some main roads.

The default speed limit of 20mph was introduced on 37% of all roads in Wales, rising from 37% of roads having a 30mph limit.

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Separately, GoSafe figures show that 4,286 drivers were subject to enforcement action after being arrested in May.

The average speed of a stopped driver in mid and south Wales was 28.3 mph and 32.7 mph in north Wales.

Two drivers were caught doing 88 mph – one in each region.

Road casualty figures released last week showed there had been a 12% drop in the number of people killed and seriously injured at 20mph and 30mph in the last three months of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022.

There were 99 deaths or serious injuries at 20 mph.

A major insurance company said this week it had seen a 20% drop in accident claims in Wales at a time when it could expect them to rise and said the restriction “clearly had an impact”.