GoSafe, the Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership at one point operated at 220 speed camera sites monitoring 30mph zones, but due to the new ‘default speed limit’ of 20mph that number has been reduced to just nine.
The detail came at the latest North Wales Police and Crime Panel meeting, where Superintendent Simon Barrasford delivered an extensive update on the impact of the 20mph default speed limit implemented across Wales in September 2023.
The presentation offered insights into enforcement measures, collision data, public response, and the challenges faced since the rollout, says Wrexham.com.
Superintendent Barrasford reminded the panel that Wales became “one of the first countries in the world to pass such a law changing a default speed limit in its entirety,” and “the first nation in the UK” to do so. Despite its trailblazing status, the policy sparked widespread opposition, with “a public petition… with a record half million signatures to revoke” and “public protest and criminal damage to signs.”
Operation Ugain, launched in January 2024, is a Welsh Government-funded initiative involving police and fire services working together to educate or fine motorists in new 20mph zones, where if stopped a driver gets a ten minute presentation on road safety benefits of 20mph – or an option to take a fine/penalty points.
With 462 ‘visits’ across North Wales in 2024, the operation monitored 130,000 vehicles—of which 98% were compliant and 2840 stopped. “Almost 100%, 99.5% engaged with the presentation,” Barrasford noted, with just 14 drivers given a TOR/Reported for Summons.
The meeting was told the speed threshold for intervention under Ugain is 26mph. Below this, vehicles are not stopped.
While most drivers respected the limit, some extreme cases were highlighted. The highest speed in a 20 mile an hour fixed camera site was 83 miles an hour in Mynydd Isa. This has been through the court process and the driver got a six month disqualification and substantial fines and costs to be paid as well.
However, Superintendent Barrasford cautioned against drawing conclusions about fatal collisions: “…although people might highlight speed as a factor in certain cases, it’s important not to speculate, as there may be other environmental, vehicle and/or human factors involved which results in the collision occurring”
Despite early positive signs, several issues hinder effective enforcement, before the change, North Wales had 220 enforceable ‘GoSafe’ 30mph sites – with only 9 remaining post-change. This was due to a need for updated traffic orders and compliant signage.
“Signs must be present and in working order,” but many were vandalised and therefore possible speeding offences could not be enforced inside the zones.
The short nature of some speed limit zones also created a problem, “A number of the Go safe sites became too short, as the enforcement location must be at least 400 metres in length, so they couldn’t be used. This would be on a stretch of road where a 20 had been inserted in between two other speed limits. Therefore 20 was inserted less than 400 metres. It’s not a position that we could enforce under the current guides.”
Barrasford stressed that, “So in conclusion, whilst there are initial positive indications, due to the variances and constraints outlined, it’s too early to still make an accurate assessment on the impact of the 20 MPH are are having in North Wales.”
(Pic: GoSafe Cymru)
