More than 10,500 requests have been received by Welsh councils from residents to reassess roads that saw their limit lowered when the policy was introduced in September last year.
Police point to a drop in road causalities and crashes to suggest Wales’ flagship policy is working, although a recent poll said seven in 10 people still oppose the new limit.
One motoring organisation has said traffic calming measures like speed bumps should be installed to force drivers to do 20mph.
Welsh ministers said a 20mph limit would reduce deaths and noise and encourage people to walk or cycle when it was implemented in September 2023 - but it caused controversy with some drivers.
The limit changed on about 35% of Welsh roads - about 22,000 miles (35,171 km) in total - last year where lamp-posts are no more than 200 yards (183m) apart.
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Statistics show a drop in casualties on 20mph and 30mph roads in Wales in the first three months of 2024, after the default built-up area limit was reduced.The number of serious casualties or fatalities has dropped 23%, and Wales’ largest police force says there have been at least 11 less deaths on the roads in their area.
I agree. This is an outstanding, evidence-based policy of exactly the sort we should be implementing, albeit one that’s been communicated awfully and failed to be defended against the prideful ignorance of the populist right amidst Welsh Labour’s political turmoil.
I think I’ve accepted in my head that the similarly maligned Sustainable Farming Scheme will have to be watered down due to Gething’s misadventures and our consequent inability to defend even well-constructed, evidence-based policy against populist rhetoric, but I really hope the 20mph speed limit survives this painful, reactionary period at least.