Three Months In

It’s been exactly three months since the Welsh government imposed on us its blanket 20 mph urban default speed limit. 

Our estimate† regarding 20 mph compliance in October and November 2023 

What we've noticed throughout is that in the first week or so motorists were feeling their way. Compliance was high. After that, compliance reduced to less than a quarter of motorists keeping to the new limit. Now, we would argue that more are sticking to 20 mph but the proportion driving over 20 is still high. 

Our estimate regarding compliance in December to yesterday, December 16th

Our own estimates† suggest that currently approximately 31 per cent of motorists are trundling at 20 mph and 69 per cent are not. Some of those 69 per cent are blatantly over the limit. The number of 'blatants' is low but significant, at about 10 per cent of the total in October/November. Throughout the quarter, this proportion has reduced. 

In future, we wonder whether things will change again. Enforcement of new 20 mph areas begins today. Will that have a general impact on behaviour? 

There are some odd things about enforcement. The police's Go Safe website says, 'If the road signage is not appropriate, [we] will not enforce'. There is still one location in the area where the 30 mph roadsigns remain where they shouldn't. This area was never previously enforced but could this be a defence if this is the only speed limit sign you pass? Personally, I would not wish to be the one who puts this to the test...

The Go Safe published threshold for action in a 20 mph zone (at the time of writing) is 26  mph. What sort of signal does this send? That 25 mph is OK? What is the point of 20 mph, then?

Denbighshire caught up with this previously 30 mph site at Lôn Speiriol Isaf this month

Denbighshire council's approach to 20 has been unimaginative. They granted very few exceptions: generally, where once it was 30, now it's 20. Flintshire is at least discussing where it can be a little more flexible. We have already pointed out that Denbighshire's 20 mph approach on the B5105 from the Cerrig road feels wrong, plain and simple. 

The limit on the A494 Mold Road past Ruthin School and Ysgol Brynhyfryd is widely abused. There are sixth formers from both schools walking its length throughout the day and from Ruthin School at weekends

The December 2023 edition of the Ruthin & District Civic Association's 'Town and Around' publication suggests that very few people stick to 20 mph while travelling past Ysgol Brynhyfryd. Obviously at school times traffic speeds are low but there are other periods when there are pupils about. The RADCA makes the point that motorists tend to accept 20 mph outside schools as an argument for 30 mph elsewhere. If RADCA is correct then motorists passing Brynhyfryd are not prepared to make that trade-off. (The snag with Ysgol Brynhyfryd, of course, is that it's on the very fringe of town, with open countryside beyond and a distinctly rural feel as the A494 crests at the school.)

† We should stress that nothing here is scientific. Over three months, we have based our figures on our own sticking to 20 mph and then by counting the number of vehicles accelerating towards our rear or those in front accelerating away. This determines the number of drivers exceeding 20. We use either a GPS satnav or GPS dash-cam rather than speedometer to determine 20 mph.