It will take “several years” to know “with certainty” the impact of the default 20mph speed limit in Wales, the country’s transport secretary has said.
But, speaking to Sky News, Ken Skates said new figures released by the Welsh government on Thursday were to be “welcomed”.
The default speed limit in Wales‘s built-up areas was reduced to 20mph in September 2023.
The latest data shows the number of casualties between July and September on roads with 20mph or 30mph speed limits were the lowest for that time of year since records began in 1979.
There were 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured on 20mph and 30mph roads in the 12 months after the reduction in the default speed limit, than during the previous year.
“That demonstrates that the policy is proving to be successful, and of course we’ll be undergoing a series of evaluations where we’ll further scrutinise the data available to us, but so far, all indications are positive that this policy is leading to safer streets,” Mr Skates said.
“Road safety has been improving for some time, continues to improve and that’s why we’re going to be undertaking three evaluations so that we can say with absolute certainty then whether or not this policy has contributed to an accelerated reduction in the number of collisions and serious injuries and deaths.
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“We’re confident that it has, but of course we’ll be following the evidence, and that evidence will be gathered as part of a thorough evaluation process.”
Mr Skates, who is also the cabinet secretary for North Wales, has previously spoken about his desire to get “the right speeds on the right roads”.
He changed the guidance for local councils after a record-breaking petition opposing the policy garnered 469,000 signatures on the Senedd‘s website.
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“Flintshire and Wrexham appear to have been first out of the blocks with undertaking the process, the statutory process, that has to be taken, and both local authorities have published details of dozens of roads in each of their council areas, and we expect to see changes on the ground pretty imminently,” he added.
“But from what I can see, the proposals that they’ve made make perfect sense. They’ve made road safety the most important feature and factor in considering what roads should change.”
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The Welsh Conservatives’ shadow transport secretary said he welcomed “any decrease in road casualties” but warned that the figures “don’t tell the whole story”.
Peter Fox said the rollout of the default limit had “created confusion and frustration” and his party would replace it with a more “targeted approach”.
