Speed limit rule could be axed for millions of drivers NEXT WEEK… but it could remain in ‘targeted’ areas
A SPEED limit rule could be axed for millions of drivers next week but it could remain in “targeted areas.”
Wales could see the national speed limit increased over a debate to scrap 20mph zones for residential roads.
The Welsh Conservatives want the Welsh Government to have a more “targeted approach” to the speed limit currently set at 20mph.
Shadow Transport Minister Natasha Asghar MS said: “Labour Ministers in Cardiff Bay continue to push their anti-motorist agenda, with drivers being forced out of their vehicles through Labour Government policy.”
“The people of Wales want to get on with their daily lives, yet Labour’s lack of investment in public transport, road building ban, and 20mph speed limits are preventing them from doing exactly this.
“In the Senedd next week, we’ll be calling on the Welsh Labour Government to end their war on motorists, scrap their road building ban and 20mph speed limits, and to get Wales moving again.”
The minister in charge of transport, Lee Waters said: “I did mean it. If none of the outcomes match what we expected of course there will need to be changes.
“But so far it is going as we anticipated- speeds are down, and just as everywhere else that has introduced lower speeds, we expect that to result in fewer collisions, deaths and casualties”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The Cabinet Secretary has been clear that his immediate priority on 20mph is to listen.
“To support this, in the weeks ahead he will be engaging with elected representatives, businesses and communities across Wales.”
A petition opposing the 20mph limit, which closed on March 13, has gained nearly half a million signatures, amassing 469,571.
The Petitions Committee considers all petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures for a debate.
It says: “The new 20mph law is coming into force on the 17th September and it will mark the end of having socialism in power in Wales.
“Welsh Government claim to have supporting evidence stating that reducing to 20mph EVERWHERE saves lives!
Yet we get flyers merely claiming that it will, and opinions from doctors that see RTCs coming into A&E. This is NOT evidence. The only true evidence is from Belfast and it states it makes NO DIFFERENCE to RTCs!”
“At least one of the trial villages in Monmouthshire actually reverted their trial because it was causing absolute carnage on the roads!
“Mark Drakeford has come out claiming it is a success in St Brides Major but every time I go though there NO ONE is driving at 20mph.
“The Welsh Government has FAILED to produce ANY convincing evidence to support these claims of safety.
“This law is being spearheaded by the WG Climate Change department and NOT Health & Safety!! YOU HAVE NOT LISTENED TO US.
“The Welsh Government was put there BY THE PEOPLE OF WALES, We are your boss! We demand that this foolish idea be stopped.”