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Speeding offences on 20mph and 30mph roads in Wales down by almost a third

13 Aug 2024 3 minute read
20mph road signs in Brynawel, Wales. Image: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Emily Price

New data has revealed that speeding offences on 20mph and 30mph roads in Wales were down by almost a third in July compared with the same month last year.

Data recorded by the GoSafe road safety partnership found that offences in built up areas have decreased to 14,421 compared to 20,303 in July 2023.

GoSafe is made up of all four police forces in Wales, 22 local authorities and the Welsh Government.

It enforces speed limits to reduce collisions using fixed speed cameras, red light cameras, average speed cameras, and mobile enforcement cameras.

GoSafe launched Operation Ugain in 2024 to provide roadside engagement for the new default 20mph speed limit as an alternative to prosecution.

Op Ugain teams monitored 33,757 vehicles across Wales in July – 1,378 were found to be exceeding the 20mph speed limit.

99% of the the offences were resolved using free roadside engagement.

In north Wales, 20mph offences rocketed from 892 in June to 5199 in July.

Go Safe says the increase can be attributed to advice letter periods ending for several fixed camera schemes and multiple mobile enforcement sites being re-established in built-up or residential areas.

In mid and south Wales offences increased by only a few hundred compared to the month before (5,711 in June – 6,002 in July).

Collisions

Go Safe says speed data from Agilysis and Transport of Wales (TfW) shows that people are driving slower.

The provisional police recorded collision data also shows that the number of people killed or injured on Welsh roads is 16% lower than in the same period in 2023.

The statistics come just as the Welsh Government watered down the £32m scheme following public backlash and a record breaking Senedd petition.

The scheme was brought in under former First Minister Mark Drakeford and Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters.

It was revised when Vaughan Gething came into office along with several other policies including farming payments and school year reform.

Amended 20mph guidance was published last month so that councils can switch some roads back to 30mph.

The Welsh Government has put aside an extra £5m to make the changes.

A spokesperson for GoSafe said: “Whilst we need to take care when interpreting data over a short time period, it’s encouraging to see a decrease in speeding offences.

“This is alongside the reduction in speed and lowest recorded figures for casualties on 20mph and 30mph roads combined, outside of the Covid pandemic.

“We remain committed to reducing the number of people killed or injured on Welsh roads. We’ll continue to work with our partners across Wales to make our communities safer for everyone.”


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Brian Coman
Brian Coman
3 months ago

Surprising really…I drive most days and you can see that 90% of drivers ignore the 20 mph signs..except the ones doing 10 mph on dual carriageways.
I wonder if they would announce it if it was the other way around ?

Peter Cuthbert
Peter Cuthbert
3 months ago
Reply to  Brian Coman

Yes the news sounds very positive in terms of the reduction in accidents. However, here in Aberystwyth, like Brian above, there is no enforcement so the promised benefit of being safer for cyclists and easier to cross the road are not being realised. The new Dragon based 20mph sign is a lovely piece of design but useless as a traffic sign. I have passed one near our house several times in the car but was initially not sure what it was all about. It was only later when passing on foot that I had time to study it and then… Read more »

John Ellis
John Ellis
3 months ago

I’m not really surprised, given that on the urban roads in the two local towns of our bit of north-east Wales almost all the vehicles these days seem to proceed in a genteel crawl!

Why vote
Why vote
3 months ago

892 june to 5199 July no wonder Wales is in a mess the powers that be are trying to redefine the meaning of the word “Reduction”.

Barry Pandy
Barry Pandy
3 months ago
Reply to  Why vote

Oh dear, is the real world not matching up with the fantasy world again?

Why vote
Why vote
3 months ago
Reply to  Barry Pandy

This is basic maths, books are available at any library or on line.

Barry Pandy
Barry Pandy
3 months ago
Reply to  Why vote

Try re-reading the first two paragraphs of the article, only carefully this time. It’s basic English, just like you would have been taught in primary school.

Why vote
Why vote
3 months ago
Reply to  Barry Pandy

What is described is over a ten month period to compare a 30mph in 2023 to the same road in 2024 at 20mph obviously the speed will be lower than the same month last year, as last year the same road was 30mph. It is a manipulation of statistics. If you are having difficulty understanding this article please ask someone else to explain it to you.

Barry Pandy
Barry Pandy
3 months ago
Reply to  Why vote

I’m not having trouble understanding the article and if anyone is wilfully misinterpreting the statistics it is you. The headline reads thus: “Speeding offences on 20mph and 30mph roads in Wales down by almost a third”. The first paragraph then goes on to explain “…that speeding offences on 20mph and 30mph roads in Wales were down by almost a third in July compared to the same month last year”. The second paragraph then provides further detail: “…that offences in built up areas have decreased to 14,421 compared to 20,303 in July 2023”. If you’re having trouble understanding that then quite… Read more »

Why vote
Why vote
3 months ago
Reply to  Barry Pandy

Well that’s told me off. 😅

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