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Dave Sherry and Charles Amos discuss 20mph zones in Birmingham
Three years of evidence proves the default speed limit is failing motorists and costing lives, writes Reform's shadow transport secretary for Wales
September 17th marks three years since Labour forced its default 20mph speed limit onto Welsh roads.
For three years, we've all listened to Labour and Plaid Cymru tell us this policy would make us safer. We've watched minister after minister stand up in the Senedd and tell motorists to slow down, accept it, trust the evidence, while handing out fines to anyone who breaks the rules.
Now the Department for Transport's own figures are raising the questions we at Reform have been asking all along.
In 2025, the number of people killed or seriously injured on Wales's roads rose significantly, the highest it's been since before the pandemic. Some 91 people lost their lives last year. That is a tragedy, and it should trouble every one of us.
Wales deserves a safe road network. But I cannot look at these figures and pretend 20mph default limits are delivering it.
For years, I've heard from motorists and businesses across Wales who've watched their journeys grow longer, all on a promise of safety that the evidence now undermines.
Hundreds of thousands of people signed a petition demanding it be scrapped, the largest petition in the Senedd's history, and were ignored. Millions of pounds of public money went into changing signs, only for some of it to now be spent changing them back.
Even Labour's own former Transport Minister, Ken Skates MS, has admitted mistakes were made in how this was implemented. Yet Plaid Cymru, now leading Government, continues to defend and push this ill-thought-out policy.
And here's what really angers me: despite councils across Wales carrying out review after review, only a small, limited number of roads have actually been returned to 30mph. Meanwhile, in places like Denbighshire and Monmouthshire, not a single road has been reverted.
In Monmouthshire's case, despite nearly 1,500 residents responding to the consultation and four specific roads being put forward for reassessment, the council decided to overrule public opinion and impose the default 20mph limit on all roads.
Welsh councils are digging in, resistant to moving away from the default, no matter how loudly residents object and no matter what the latest data tells us. And that data, especially the alarming rise in deaths on our roads, shows plainly that the default speed limit is not working.
That is why next year's council elections matter to me and why they should matter to you.
They're our chance to challenge every councillor and party still defending default 20mph. I want my road, and yours, judged on evidence and safety, not on ideology.
Three years on, this fight is far from over. This anniversary shouldn't be a celebration. It should be the beginning of the end for default limits.
I believe road safety should be built on evidence, not ideology. I want speed limits that genuinely protect drivers, pedestrians and residents alike, without punishing motorists.
Labour started the war on motorists.
Plaid Cymru are continuing it.
Reform will finish it.
