The residential street that’s waited decades for action on dangerous driving

Families in a Cardiff street where multiple crashes have taken place and dangerous driving is a regular occurrence are wondering what it will take for the council to act on speeding vehicles where they live.

People living in Paget Street, Grangetown, are campaigning to get speed calming measures installed on their street. It’s a campaign that’s been going on for 50 years according to residents.

Already this year there have been three car crashes in the street. However when residents appeal to Cardiff Council and the police for action they are asked for more evidence.

One parent who moved to Paget Street four and a half years ago said she noticed the problem with dangerous driving and speeding vehicles straightaway.

Injuries

“People might think I’m exaggerating but I’m not. It is every day,” said mother-of-two Charlie Morris.

“Every day we find speeding happening in the daytime and particularly at night when I’m settling my son.”

South Wales Police said it attended a crash involving two vehicles on Paget Street on Thursday, May 29.

There were only minor injuries to both drivers, according to police. However Charlie’s own account of the incident suggested it could have been a lot worse.

She said she was at the front of her house that evening doing some gardening with her daughter after picking her up from nursery.

Charlie added: “We heard this massive bang and I looked around and this smashed-up car was heading towards my garden wall.

“It was complete fight or flight… [I] ran over to her, grabbed her and… ran to the door and looked around again and saw that the smashed-up car had just stopped short of our wall.

“The sound… was quite something. It was really loud and it took me a while to figure out what had happened.”

At the time Charlie’s husband and son were walking back to the house down Paget Street.

She said the car drove past them at what her husband described as “way above the speed limit”.

Charlie said her husband thought the car was going at speeds of about 50mph to 60mph.

Meeting

There is currently a vehicle activated speed (VAS) sign in Paget Street to remind drivers to stick to the 20mph speed limit there.

However residents want more work done to reduce incidents of speeding like the installation of speed bumps, raised zebra crossings, or priority narrowing junctions.

At a recent public meeting on the issue of speeding along Paget Street residents pointed out that there aren’t even any white dividing lines down the middle of the street.

Local councillors at the public meeting, held at St Paul’s Church on September 23, said funding was a barrier for the local authority when it comes to installing traffic calming measures and there are roads in 27 other wards that have to be considered.

Cardiff Council pointed to this when the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) approached them for a comment about Paget Street with the authority adding they regularly receive reports of speeding across the city.

A spokesman for the local authority said due to the number of locations and limited funding installing traffic calming measures everywhere isn’t practical or affordable.

They also said speed data from last year shows the average speed on Paget Street is 23.7mph.

Charlie said residents have been encouraged in the past to gather evidence themselves with speed guns.

However she said this had its own challenges with families unable to dedicate the time needed to gather extensive evidence.

There were also doubts about the reliability of any evidence gathered by people wearing luminous vests who would be clearly visible to drivers.

Minority 

Charlie added: “The minority is still important. One out of 100 drivers – if they hit a kid and kill them then that is important to us.

“What a lot of the residents feel like [is] what will it take for the council to protect us?

“That’s the bare minimum basic human requirement that we’re paying our taxes for is to keep us safe.

“We’re not willing to wait for a child or person to be seriously injured or killed and we’re at the point now where we’re not going to let go of this campaign anymore.”

A petition calling on the council to install traffic calming measures in Paget Street has so far gained 320 signatures.

The two other car crashes that took place in Paget Street this year happened on Sunday, July 27, and Sunday, September 21.

Witness

Another witness to the crash that happened at the end of May was Father Richard Green.

The priest of St Paul’s Church said: “This car sped along the opposite direction to what I was walking going really fast.

“I remember thinking to myself: ‘That’s quick’ and then two seconds later there was this loud bang and I turned around and the car had collided with another car.”

He said that recent crashes have “reignited” interest in the campaign and added there is a sense of frustration in the community that nothing seems to be getting done about the issue.

Other members of the community at last week’s public meeting had similar stories relating to their concerns about speeding in Paget Street.

Green Party councillor for Grangetown Matt Youde said when he saw the scene of a crash in Paget Street there was “glass and metal all over the road” and the scene was “something you would expect to see on a motorway after a high-speed chase”.

The councillor said he knows families who are moving out of the area because of the issue of dangerous driving.

“It is absurd,” he added.

“It can’t go on can it? Something has to change.”

One resident said teaching her children to cross the road is a “real issue”, particularly from Bromsgrove Street, where she said “you are taking your life in your own hands a little bit”.

Change

Another resident who has lived in Paget Street for 20 years said he thinks speeding has worsened since 2016, which was the year when he started teaching his children to cross the road.

Talking about his child he added: “He’s got to cross that road every day on his own.

“It needs road-calming measures – it’s quite obvious.

“It’s a genuine worry for us.”

Two Labour councillors for Grangetown were in attendance at the public meeting.

Cllr Ashley Lister and Cllr Waheeda Abdul-Sattar said they have been pushing for change in Paget Street for a long time and vowed to continue their efforts.

However they also laid out the challenges they face as local representatives.

Cllr Lister said multiple members’ inquiries have been made about Paget Street and he has raised the problem with “cabinet member after cabinet member”.

A number of solutions have been looked at by the council like installing zebra crossings.

However these also face legal and funding challenges. Again Cllr Lister mentioned the importance of gathering evidence to support change.

He said: “For officers they do need that evidence base because it [speeding] does happen in so many different places.

“Officers are putting in for every bid they can city-wide.”

Police enforcement

Cllr Lister said he believed enforcement by police will be “the key thing” that helps create change in Paget Street.

Cllr Sattar urged residents to keep supplying their ward councillors with information on speeding and dangerous driving.

In a statement made following the public meeting the three Labour ward councillors for Grangetown, including Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: “We have been in touch with the local police to address the issues raised and will also speak with council officers to explore what measures can be taken to make Paget Street safer.

“Some of the ideas raised — such as improved signage, traffic calming measures, and increased enforcement — are ones we’ll be taking forward.

“We’re aiming to arrange a meeting with officers as soon as possible to discuss what can be implemented within current resources.

“We’re grateful to the community for their engagement and will continue to work closely with them to ensure their voices are heard.”

GoSafe, a road casualty reduction partnership made up of 22 councils in Wales and four Welsh police forces, is responsible for fixed speed cameras, red light cameras, average speed cameras, and mobile enforcement cameras.

The partnership uses Welsh Government guidance on where it places cameras across the country.

GoSafe’s website states that how and when cameras are used depends on a number of factors, including the history of crashes on a road and the extent of road safety concerns there.

A GoSafe spokesman said: “GoSafe have been made aware of speeding concerns on Paget Street, Cardiff.

“A speed survey was carried out by Cardiff Highways in February 2024 and the data was supplied to GoSafe in June 2025.

“This data showed that the site did not need the enforcement criteria at that time. However a further speed survey is due to be conducted to obtain current data.

“We will continue to work closely with the highways authority and local residents.”

Signage checks are conducted for every site before an enforcement by GoSafe is carried out on a road.

Enforcement doesn’t take place if the signage is not appropriate.

Non-compliant signage 

The LDRS understands Paget Street is not currently enforceable due to non-compliant signage and Cardiff Council’s highways department has been made aware of this.

A Cardiff Council spokesman said: “The council regularly receives reports of speeding across the city.

“Due to the number of locations given and limited funding from Welsh Government installing traffic calming measures everywhere isn’t practical or affordable.

“Speed data from last year shows that the average speed on Paget Street is 23.7mph.

“Southbound traffic averages 26mph while northbound is lower at 22mph. The speed limit is 20mph and we urge all drivers to follow it.

“A vehicle-activated speed (VAS) sign has been installed to remind motorists of their speed. Speed enforcement is the responsibility of the police.

“Based on current data Paget Street does not meet their criteria for enforcement and there have been no recent injury collisions in recent years.

“To try to reduce speeds further the most effective long-term option would be to stop through traffic on Paget Street, preventing it from being used as a shortcut from Penarth Road.

“However this could require costly changes to nearby junctions [and] may not qualify for grant funding or in fact reduce vehicle speeds down to 20mph.”

Residents’ wait for change in Paget Street goes on.

One woman who’s lived on the street for decades said at the public meeting said the speeds at which people drive down it is “ridiculous”.

She said: “It’s been going on a long time and we just feel we need something positive going forward.

“We have been trying to get [speed calming measures] for 50 years.

“Are they going to wait for something drastic to happen before they do… anything?”