20mph one year on: Welsh road casualties falling considerably faster than rest of GB

The release of road casualty stats published annually by the Department for Transport, highlighted a falling trend across GB in cycle and pedestrian fatalities for 2023. With less people killed or seriously injured, the direction of travel is obviously right, but the improvements are painstakingly slow.  

The new figures indicate that there are now 20% fewer cyclist fatalities than a decade ago, but only 4% fewer than a year ago – reinforcing concerns that progress is not fast enough.

Better statistics in Wales

Yet, in Wales, things look very different. Interim statistics released by the Welsh Government for the last quarter of 2023 and the first of 2024, show that casualties in road collisions are reducing much more quickly. Not only that, but they also show a reduction in the number of collisions overall.

The Welsh Government figures are provisional, but they tend to be generally consistent with final figures, giving a reliable idea of where we’re going.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a year, you’ll be well aware that Wales introduced the default 20mph speed limit on roads in built-up and residential areas. You might be even more aware of the backlash that followed.  

Despite the backlash at the sudden change to road traffic law, since the limit has been in place, Wales has seen the lowest quarterly figures for road casualties outside the Covid pandemic period. In the first three months of 2024, there were 377 casualties on 20mph and 30mph roads combined. Compare that to 510 in the first quarter of 2023 and you can see how great an impact it’s had.  

In that single quarter, the number of serious casualties or fatalities dropped 23% in Wales, while for Great Britain as a whole it’s taken a decade to achieve a similar figure – 28%.

In the six months after October 2023, following the 20mph policy being introduced, serious road casualties dropped by 17%, compared to the same period in 2022-23.

Improving the safety of Welsh roads

This is significant, because we’ve not seen results like this before. In recent years, there has not been such a great downward shift in the number of those killed or seriously injured on Welsh roads.  

Although the 20mph default limit has caused a great deal of controversy, this is why it was rolled out. To save lives. It’s precisely why ex-Minister Lee Waters brought in the change – to improve the safety of Welsh roads, making neighbourhoods more liveable, less polluted and more pedestrian.

I’ve seen it first-hand when cycling around in both Wales and England – traffic speeds in England now feel wildly fast in comparison. Which is why it’s heartening that, despite the loud objections the Government has held its nerve – after all, having to slow down while driving may be an inconvenience but it pales in comparison when we consider the lives we’ve already saved. On 25 September, the Senedd voted on scrapping 20mph in a motion brought forward by the Welsh Conservatives, but that vote was lost and an amendment by Labour passed instead, calling for the Welsh Government to continue supporting local authorities to deliver them in a targeted approach.

It’s clear that changing attitudes and behaviour takes time, but these initial figures are promising. Although it may be too early to tell yet, the 20mph limit is showing signs that it’s making our communities and roads safer. We can only wait for the final statistics set to come out in a year’s time to see if this trend plays out even more strongly.