The Reform UK party recently launched its Welsh manifesto, which is a set of promises to voters.

One is to scrap the default 20mph speed limits that the Welsh government introduced in 2023. The change meant that any roads that previously had a 30mph limit became 20mph zones. Reform says that Wales is waging a “war on motorists” and that the 20mph limits have “caused untold damage” to the Welsh economy.

The Conservative Party has also pledged to scrap the 20mph limits if it gets into power, so what data do we have to show whether the limits are good or bad?

A lot of the opposition is from drivers complaining that it takes them longer to get where they’re going. However, research has found that the average journey has increased by no more than two minutes.

But many in Wales still hate the new limits, and a petition to change them back got a record 469,571 signatures – the most ever on the petitions page of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) website.

Many opponents say that the 20mph limits should only apply outside places like schools and hospitals. But when the petition was debated in the Senedd, Plaid Cymru MS (Member of the Senedd) Delyth Jewell said: “For those people arguing that the limit should only apply outside schools and hospitals – children don’t live in schools, children live on streets.”

She went on to say that “children’s lives are something that you cannot put a price on.”

Making exceptions

The Welsh government has since given councils the power to change some roads back to 30mph where  it’s “safe and appropriate”, and as long as the roads are outside town and city centres, with low numbers of pedestrians, cyclists and houses.

Ken Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, told us: “The main aim of 20mph is to save lives and reduce the number of people hurt in road accidents. Official figures show this is making a real difference.”

The Welsh government says that an independent review is looking at the scheme, its value for money, and whether it has improved health and encouraged more people to walk or cycle. The final report isn’t due until 2029, so until then we don’t have much to go on.

The Conservatives told us that “the default 20mph speed limit has slowed Wales down and held the economy back,” even though they haven’t done any research at all on the effect on Wales’ economy. They quoted the Welsh government’s own estimate from 2022 that the negatives of the 20mph limits could add up to £8.9 billion over 30 years. However, that estimate also said it could be as low as £2.7bn.

Speed vs saving lives

The same government analysis says that the 20mph change is expected to save between 40-440 lives over 30 years, as well as avoiding 1,800-3,900 serious injuries.

We asked if the Conservatives had done any sums to show how many more casualties would be acceptable to increase speeds by 10mph again. They didn’t answer that, just saying that “what matters is striking the right balance between safety and practicality… We support 20mph precisely where children are most at risk. But road safety policy should focus on where lower limits make the biggest difference”.

We also put several questions to Reform, including what work they’d done to show that Wales’ economy has suffered “untold damage”, but they just quoted the same upper limit of the 2022 estimate.

“The default 20mph policy has been one of the most unpopular in [Wales],” the party told us. “It has caused misery for motorists… Reform will scrap it.”

The 20mph limits are being talked about a lot at the moment because there’s an election for the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) on 7 May. Anyone living in Wales who’s aged 16 or above will be able to vote, so what do the parties in the Senedd think?

Welsh Labour – the Labour government brought the idea in and is still fully behind it, but is allowing changes on some roads.

Welsh Conservatives – say the default 20mph rule has been “disastrous” and wants to scrap it, except around “schools, hospitals and in high-risk areas”.

Plaid Cymru – helped to bring the changes in, but claims that Labour made a “mess” of it.

Reform – says the party will “restore sanity to Welsh roads” by scrapping the default 20mph limits, except “outside schools and hospitals and in clearly defined residential streets”.

Welsh Liberal Democrats – say they welcome the drop in casualties, but that there’s “too little local say. We should keep 20mph where it improves safety, while giving communities the power to challenge and change limits”.

What do you think?