Wales’s new 20mph speed limit is soon coming into force which means from September 17, all 30mph roads in Wales will be automatically reduced to 20mph unless they have been specifically exempted by the local authority.
Ahead of the new speed limit, Will Hayward, the Welsh Affairs Editor from Wales Online, has tested the new speed limit by driving around the Welsh capital, Cardiff, at the new lower limit.
In some instances, Mr Hayward reports: “I couldn’t have really exceeded 20mph if I’d tried.”
The editor’s planned route started in Cardiff city centre, drove up past Cardiff castle, around Cathays, up Penylan hill and along Newport Road. It’s a common route in the Welsh capital and Will explained it was a total of around an hour’s drive ‘to really get a feel for the new limit’.
As reported in WalesOnline, Mr Hayward’s first thoughts were about the existing non-stop traffic: “In the super built-up areas…I couldn’t really have exceeded 20mph if I’d tried. There was too much traffic. The times that I could have got up to 30mph would most likely have meant that I’d get to the next set of traffic lights quicker and have to wait there longer.”
When the driver did finally “chug along” at 20mph, he argued it was best for safety purposes because he was driving close to a children’s park, and a residential area.
The driver confessed there were some roads where driving at 30mph felt “very safe” anyway, but he believed some streets would probably be safer at the new limit.
He believed assessing every street would be too “confusing, time-consuming and expensive” for authorities to decide limits on a case-by-case basis.
With regards to changing gears to a lower gear, he believes third gear felt more “economical” but his car was struggling with the low speed and wanted to be in a lower gear.
Mr Hayward reported: “Slower speeds tend to mean less breaking and fast accelerating. This helps mean lower emissions. I absolutely did notice that I was braking less at 20mph than 30mph. I would add that as we all eventually switch to electric cars, the exhaust emissions will diminish anyway.”
His biggest surprise was the “lack of tailgaters” which he assumed he would collect if driving at a slower speed. Even though he found the experience “jarring”, overall he concluded driving at the new limit was “not a big deal”.
Next weekend, the 20mph limit will be in place on what are called ‘restricted’ roads. These are roads in built-up areas, where there is high pedestrian activity.
The Welsh Government says that the speed reduction will make the country a safer and greener place to live but opponents argue that the costs of the scheme greatly outweigh the benefits.
