"Every casualty reduced makes a difference": Significant drop in casualties on Welsh roads since 20mph speed limit

There have been fewer people killed and injured on Wales's roads since the introduction of widespread 20mph speed limits, provisional collision data suggests — the Welsh government keen to point out that while the news is "encouraging" and a sign things are "moving in the right direction", the "volatile" nature of comparing collision statistics in the short-term means more data should be collected before any sweeping conclusions are made.

With that said, the figures published on the Welsh government website and first reported in the Guardian show that the number of police-recorded road collisions on 20 or 30mph roads in the first quarter of 2024 is the lowest quarterly figure ever recorded in Wales outside of the Covid period.

The total number of casualties on all roads during Q1 of 2024 was 811 (16 deaths, 188 serious injuries and 607 slight injuries), down 17 per cent on the previous quarter (982) and 16 per cent lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (968). That final comparison is the most significant when considering the impact of widespread 20mph speed limits, the introduction of a default 20mph speed limit coming in September 2023 and increasing the approximate 870km of 20mph roads to 13,000km.

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The number of collisions on 20 or 30mph roads is 17 per cent lower than in the previous quarter and 25 per cent lower than in the same opening quarter of 2023, while the number of people killed on 30 or 20mph roads was 55 per cent lower (from 11 to five) compared with the same period last year.

GoSafe figures suggest that the number of speeding offences detected in June for breaking 20mph speed limits exceeded the number recorded in the seven months previous combined.

In south and mid Wales, 5,711 speeding offences were noted in June, compared with 5,354 between November and May.

The Welsh government called the initial collision statistics "encouraging" and said they suggest things "are moving in the right direction".

"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 spokesperson said.

As the stats were published the Welsh government did urge some caution about interpreting the data over a short time period, as quarterly figures "can be volatile" and "the number of quarterly road collisions in Wales has generally been declining steadily over the last decade".

The move to reduce the default speed limit to 20mph was met with vocal criticism and opposition by some, the Welsh Conservatives meeting the latest collision figures by claiming the reduction is partly due to more congestion as a result of 20mph zones.

"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," a spokesperson told the Guardian.