PA Media
The Welsh government says 20mph limits are reducing speeds and saving lives
Almost 900 fewer people have been injured on Welsh roads since the default speed limit was lowered from 30 to 20mph.
Its introduction in September 2023 cost £34m and was one of the most controversial law changes made by the Welsh government, sparking the largest Senedd petition ever.
Road speed reduction campaigners, 20’s Plenty, said there had been 882 fewer people hurt in crashes.
However the change is not universally popular, with one driving instructor labelling it a “disaster”.
Adrian Berendt, director for 20’s Plenty, said the figures also showed the reduction had prevented 14 deaths in Wales.
He said: “As well as making Welsh communities safer, 20mph is benefitting drivers with lower insurance costs.
“We congratulate politicians, local authority representatives and community leaders who called for and implemented 20mph as an urban/village norm.
“We thank Welsh drivers who have altered their behaviour to make their communities even better places to be.”
The campaign group said four police forces saw casualty reductions and in north Wales, where 94% of roads changed from 30mph to 20mph, casualties fell by 46%.
He said “very few councils” had decided to change roads back to 30mph and people were just “getting on with it”.
Figures from the Welsh government revealed there were 2,638 people injured, including deaths, on low-speed roads in the most recent 18 months, compared with 3,520 injuries between April 2022 and September 2023, a reduction of 25%.
In April it was revealed more than 112,000 speeding offences were committed up to March 2025 since the introduction of the default speed limit in September 2023.
The highest speed recorded was 89mph (143 km/h) in January 2025 but the average speed was most often about 28mph (45 km/h) , according to road safety partnership GoSafe.
The number of speeding motorists appeared to peak last summer with 7,958 offences recorded in north Wales and 7,326 in mid and south Wales in August.
The number of casualties on 20 to 30mph roads between July and September 2024 was the lowest for the three month-period since records began in 1979.
Advanced driving instructor Stuart Walker says the roads have become more dangerous despite the lower speed limit
Stuart Walker, an advanced driving instructor in Wrexham, said he had been seeing more dangerous driving on the roads since the change and considered quitting teaching before some roads were reinstated to 30mph.
Mr Walker said: “Some roads obviously need to be 20mph for safety reasons but a 20mph blanket speed limit has been a total disaster.
“In Wrexham before they put some roads back to 30mph it badly affected driver behaviour. I’ve never seen the roads so dangerous in my 39-year career.”
He added: “No one was doing under 30mph in the 20mph zones, which meant training people to drive became really dangerous.
“It also badly affected young drivers’ progress, In the 20mph blanket speed limits in Wrexham I have been overtaken over 1,200 times.”
In Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, there was a mixed response from those asked by BBC Wales about the 20mph limit.
Holidaymaker Robert, from Nottingham, said it was a “nuisance” in some places and difficult to stick to 20mph in rural communities, whereas Emma Lloyd said despite initially not liking it, it was a “good thing”.
She said people still drove too fast on the town’s promenade.
Transport Secretary Ken Skates said it would take a number of years to see the full impact of the policy, but “the picture continues to be encouraging”.
He said updated guidance also allowed local authorities to review roads which could safely be changed to 30mph and “ensure the right speeds on the right roads”.