Welsh launch study into stricter speed limits

18 June 2008

A 12-week consultation into Welsh speed limit guidelines has been launched to consider recommendations including 20mph limits near schools, and 50mph limits on ‘lower-quality’ rural roads.

The document also proposes a period of five years for highway authorities to review and amend speed limits on their road networks. It states that local speed limits should not be considered in isolation, but packaged with other measures to manage speeds, including engineering and landscaping standards which respect the needs of all road-users and raise drivers’ awareness of their environment.

‘Together with education, driver information, training, and publicity, these measures should enable traffic authorities to deliver speed limits and driven speeds which are safe and appropriate for the road and its surroundings, and help drivers assess their own, appropriate speeds,’ say the draft guidelines.

They go on to say the Welsh Assembly Government is encouraging implementation of 20mph limits and zones but that, ideally, these should be ‘self-enforcing,’ creating conditions where drivers ‘naturally drive at around 20mph because of the general nature of the location, or as a result of traffic-calming measures being put in place’.

The draft also puts forward the idea of a 50mph limits on lower-quality rural roads, such as those with frequent bends and junctions. The consultation will be followed by the preparation of final guidelines, which will then be considered by deputy first minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, who is also Welsh minister for economy and transport.

Announcing the plans, Jones said the Welsh Assembly Government was committed to continually promoting road safety in Wales, and reducing the number of road collisions and casualties.

‘The consultation marks an important step in this ongoing process, and provides organisations and communities with the opportunity to debate appropriate speed limits for different roads,’ he added.

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