The number of cyclists injured or killed from road traffic incidents in Wales has fallen by more than a quarter since the roll-out of ‘default’ 20mph speed limits on most roads, new data shows.
Data to the end of March shows that there have been 348 cyclists killed or injured on all roads since the 20mph law came into force in September 2023, down 28 percent compared with the 481 reported casualties from April 2022 to September 2023.
The number of cyclists seriously injured has also decreased by 30 percent in the same time. North Wales, which saw 94 percent of its 30mph roads switch to 20mph, also recorded the biggest decrease in total casualties.
In a statement, campaign group 20’s Plenty for Us said: “As well as making Welsh communities safer, 20mph is benefitting drivers in lower insurance costs.
“We congratulate politicians, local authority representatives and community leaders who called for and implemented 20mph.
“We thank Welsh drivers who have altered their behaviour to make their communities even better places to be.”
But the policy remains controversial. The BBC interviewed a driving instructor in Wrexham who said the “the limit has been a total disaster”.
“I’ve never seen the roads so dangerous in my 39-year career,” says Stuart Walker.
“No one was doing under 30mph in the 20mph zones, which meant training people to drive became really dangerous.”
Department for Transport research from earlier in the summer showed three quarters of drivers in England regularly exceeded the 20mph speed limit, where its implementation is more selective than in Wales. Data also showed the number of drivers taking a speed awareness course across the UK to be at record levels.
In 2023, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety published research suggesting that traffic-calming infrastructure was needed alongside reduced speed limits to encourage greater compliance and safer roads. In Wales, speeding fines are issued by the police to drivers exceeding 26mph on a 20mph limited road.
The new 20mph ‘default’ limits came into force two years ago today and applied to approximately 35 percent of Welsh roads, most of which previously maintained a 30mph limit.
The policy was introduced with the support of the United Nations but also amid controversy and allegations that the policy would cause unnecessary congestion and delay road users. A petition to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) calling for the law to be scrapped attracted a record 470,000 signatures.
The Welsh Government said the measures would reduce the number of deaths and serious injury caused by cars, as well as tackling pollution and encouraging people to walk or cycle instead of drive.
In response to criticism over the law’s implementation, in April 2024 it was announced that local councils would be able to restore the 30mph limit on certain roads on a case-by-case basis according to local demand.
The new limits have also caused unintended difficulties for Welsh cycling. The organisers of the prestigious Junior Tour of Wales race cited the 20mph speed limits as one of many factors in the race’s shortening in 2024. The race was subsequently cancelled and replaced earlier this year by Beicio Cymru (Welsh Cycling).
16 thoughts on “Cyclist casualties down 28% and 900 fewer road injuries since 20mph limit introduced in Wales – but driving instructor still brands change a “total disaster””
Just something to bear in
Just something to bear in mind; very few people adhere to the 20mph limit. What people are really annoyed about is that they can’t drive at 35-40mph without feeling like they are really breaking the rules. Now they just drive at ~25-30mph.
All statistics also point to the change making fuck all difference to journey time so essentially people are complaining that they can’t save zero time and that they care so little about others that they would rather feel like they are getting somewhere faster than save someones life.
I drive in 20mph limits in
I drive in 20mph limits in London. I can assure that my journey times are virtually the same as when those roads had 30mph limits. But when I’m trundling along on my Suzuki sportsbike at 20mph, I get close-passed by irate car drivers on a regular basis. I generally overtake them again when they’re queuing for the next set of lights and give them a dismissive shake of the head as I pass.
Based on limited experience
Based on limited experience of driving in WaIes I would agree. The logical conclusion for those against the introduction of 20mph limits in England would be to encourage drivers to see 30mph as a limit not a target. Casualty rates would drop, to levels comparable to Wales, with minimal impact on journey times. I think at that point the authorities will see the introduction of blanket 20mph limits as an unnecessary cost and it’ll be a non issue. Of course those against 20mph limits simply won’t see it it that way and therefore those that should be blamed when more 20mph zones are introduced are all those drivers that thought 35mph was just fine.
Encourage them ? Lol not met
Encourage them ? Lol not met many drivers from England have you. Yes lets encourage them not to speed,or use their phones whilst driving, jump red lights, close pass vulnerable road users, park on pavements and all the other crap they do that makes the roads unsafe , because that clearly works
Just the 6100 in a month https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/25458449.suffolk-speeding-offences-surge-6-100-drivers-caught/
I certainly don’t want to
I certainly don’t want to gloat – we should all welcome this (as a start…)
But I wonder how those who were making arguments like “but it will bring the law into disrepute” / “but blanket limits tho…” see this?
I disagreed with them then – but perhaps (in the future! ) there is a “how humans actually see things” argument to be examined? I’m looking at NL in particular where they have had a particular success with 30km/h streets (often residential zones, or “town centres”) where they’ve reduced traffic volumes also, so mixing of modes is more workable. These are joined by 50km/h connecting roads. Lots of places there are now proposing reducing that 50km/h limit, but will that then blur the “here you go dead slow and pay attention, there you’re just making progress” distinction?
(More on this here:
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2025/01/08/when-is-there-no-need-for-protected-cycling-infrastructure/
)
Changing human (driver) behaviour is probably not a “one and done” but needs continuous effort…
The downside is longer
The downside is longer journeys to the golf club and grouse shoot for everyone, in exchange for the lives of these 133 entitled lycra clad louts, who pay zero road tax.
It makes my blood boil.
Brigadier Algernon De Menshar MP (Reform UK)
The Old Rectory,
Little Bufton,
Hampshire.
I understand the cliché but
I understand the cliché but what a lot of people don’t know is that cycling is the fastest-growing sport in the British Army and especially so among officers. Two out of the my last three team leaders before I retired from MOD, were avid cyclists, both full colonels at the time and now both Brigadiers.
This policy is desperately
This policy is desperately needed in the rest of Britain.
Sneaking in in some places…
Sneaking in in some places… but there are two sides to that approach. It may avoid controversy but unless it’s well-advertised / fairly standard those who aren’t nearby locals will likely speed through many of the areas (yes, ideally there would be consequences but we know how likely that is…)
Only if its occasionally
Only if its occasionally enforced. There have been 20mph limits in Ipswich for over 30 years, it makes increasingly less difference to the speeds people drive at.
I’ve never been able to
The biggest mystery are friends who cannot understand that their average commuting speed is only 10kmh. Somehow the time crawling is made up for by a few seconds at 100kmh.
Aluminium can wrote:
ah the reality gap between what the auto industry has sold to thousands of punters, what it can do in ideal conditions vs well, UK roads where everyone else has fallen for the same sales pitch, and has had the same bright idea.
“No one was doing under 30mph
Driving instructor “No one was doing under 30mph in the 20mph zones, which meant training people to drive became really dangerous.”
Why? If it’s because so many people aren’t obeying the law, then the danger comes from them, not the 20mph zones, but as Upton Sinclair said
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
When your income depends on training more people to drive cars and you don’t make any money from people using the alternatives, you aren’t going to like measures that increase the popularity of the alternatives and decrease the popularity of driving.
eburtthebike wrote:
I suspect the drivers behind you were if you were sticking to the speed limit.
One of the most difficult things for inexperienced (and many experienced) drivers to deal with is tailgating. Official guidance is to slow down and let them pass if I’ve understood it correctly. So how is that dangerous assuming he is teaching his students to do it.
Because you know full well a
Because you know full well a subsection of drivers will force risky & dangerous passes on those learners whatever the instructor is doing or teaching, just as they do with cyclists who feel they’re holding them up, maybe they even get punish passed or brake tested too.
And the stress and panic that can cause to those learners can have dangerous consequences, there’s only so much an instructor can do to rescue things if it goes tilt.
These kinds of limits only really work if they’re enforced properly,we know noones interested in enforcing them properly, except in sporadic locations with fixed cameras.
Just for reference, the
Just for reference, the instructor doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I live in Wrexham and plenty obey the new(ish) rules. There are those who choose not to, but they ignored the 30 mph limits as well. Let the data of less collisions, deaths and injuries speak for themselves, along with the lower insurance premiums.