Now Welsh government consider dropping MORE speed limits despite furious backlash against 20mph rollout – as opponents slam ‘anti-drive mentality’ and petition to reverse the lower limit passes 340,000 signatures
- Deputy climate change minister Lee Waters said more roads could be affected
- A default 20mph was introduced by Labour-run government on September 17
The Welsh government is considering dropping even more speed limits despite furious backlash against the 20mph rollout, a minister has said.
A new law which introduced a default 20mph limit was introduced on September 17 by the Labour-run government, which claims the £32million project will save lives and cut NHS costs by £92million a year.
Opponents have slammed the country’s ‘anti-drive’ mentality, while a petition to reverse the lower limit has reached 344,000 signatures – around ten per cent of the total population.
But despite the backlash, the Welsh government will still consider reducing speeds on more roads, according to deputy climate change minister Lee Waters.
‘We are going to look at speeds on other roads because we need to review them in line with the Wales transport strategy,’ he said on a BBC Wales podcast.
The Welsh government will still consider reducing speeds on more roads, according to deputy climate change minister Lee Waters (pictured)
A petition to reverse the lower limit has reached 344,000 signatures – around ten per cent of the total population
Drivers have been vandalising the new road signs, including one pictured here covered in spray paint in Cardiff
He continued: ‘I already have people coming to me saying ‘we live in a village and we have a trunk road going through it, why is it 40 it’s not safe.’
READ MORE: Wales’ 20mph speed limit ‘will cause chaos, confusion, gridlock and mayhem’
‘Let’s just drop the speed limit. It won’t cost us anything and we can do that next week and it will save lives.’
However, he reassured listeners that there is no ‘secret plan’ for another nationwide change.
As the petition has far surpassed the needed 10,000 signatures, it will be considered for a debate in parliament.
It is thought to be the biggest petition in Senedd history and is still climbing, having increased from 284,000 votes yesterday.
Meanwhile the Welsh Conservatives’ transport spokeswoman Natasha Asghar also urged the government to ditch the limit.
Speaking in the Senedd, she said: ‘Residents have had their say on this and the verdict is resounding.
‘They do not want this costly, ill-thought out, disastrous blanket.
A 30mph sign just a few feet away from a 20mph, posted to a social media group opposed to the lower limit
The 20mph speed limit was branded an ‘absolute nightmare’ by furious drivers, with many signs vandalised
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford (pictured) has claimed the new speed limits will save £92million a year for the NHS
Motorists have started fighting back against the speed restrictions by spraying over road signs
‘The Welsh government really need to scrap this anti-drive mentality and instead ensure Wales has an adequate road network for the future.’
The 20mph speed limit has been branded an ‘absolute nightmare’ by furious drivers, with signs vandalised with spray paint and cars travelling at 20mph in a 40mph zone.
It has recently been blasted as ‘insane’ by the leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, who said the Welsh Government had ‘ignored businesses’ and ‘ignored the public’. She claimed the scheme was ‘punishing’ drivers.
The scheme, which meant altering 30,000 road signs at a cost of £32million, has been described as ‘anti-worker, anti-road and anti-motorist’ by Welsh Conservatives, who have vowed to repeal it.
Earlier this week a top driving instructor warned that the new limit would cause ‘confusion, chaos, gridlock and mayhem’ on the country’s roads.
Stuart Walker, who has been training drivers since 1987, warned of widespread anger over Wales’s decision to cut the speed limit.
He said: ‘Angry drivers do not make safe drivers.
‘If we go up a steep hill and we can only approach at 20mph the gearbox is going to change gear up and down, up and down, and we are going to lose a lot of speed and we’re going to cause chaos, confusion, gridlock and mayhem.’
Experienced driving instructor Stuart Walker (pictured) said Wales’ new 20mph speed limit will cause ‘confusion, chaos, gridlock, and mayhem’ on the country’s roads
The Conservatives have called the Labour-run Welsh government’s ULEZ-style clampdown ‘ludicrious’
Andrew RT Davies (pictured), the leader of the Conservatives in the Senedd, called the new speed limits ‘ludicrious’
Newly-erected signs marking the start of a 20mph zone in Cardiff
He added that the Welsh Government’s plans also lacked public support, and drivers needed to believe they would work for them to have an impact on safety.
‘The 20mph speed limit now has been devalued. It’s got to be seen as justified for it to work effectively,’ Mr Walker added.
The driving instructor said he fully supported lower speed limits outside Welsh schools, but said he did not believe every 30mph zone should have a speed limit of 20mph.
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