The Welsh government’s new speed limit is not a default 20mph across Wales.
The Welsh government has said that the new law introduces a default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads across Wales. The limit applies to most restricted roads, but not all, and the speed limit on other roads, like motorways, is not affected.
During an interview [3:00] with BBC Politics Wales which aired on Sunday (8 October), Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that a new speed limit introduced by the Welsh government is “not a default 20 miles an hour across Wales”.
We’ve asked Mr Starmer and Labour about this claim, as it appears at odds with how the Labour-led Welsh government itself has described the new law.
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On 17 September this year a new law came into force in Wales lowering the speed limit on most restricted roads from 30 miles per hour (mph) to 20mph.
Restricted roads are defined as roads with “a system of street lighting furnished by means of lamps placed not more than 200 yards apart”.
The new law affects most roads in Wales that previously had a 30mph limit, but local authorities in Wales have determined that the speed limit for some restricted roads will remain unchanged.
Mr Starmer claimed that the new law is “not a default 20 miles an hour across Wales”.
However, the Welsh government has itself repeatedly used the word “default” to describe the new speed limit.
One page on the Welsh government’s website is headlined “Introducing default 20mph speed limits” and states: “We have introduced a default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads across Wales”, with another answering frequently asked questions about the new law explaining that “The law changes the default speed limited [sic] on restricted roads.”
Some Welsh local authorities have similarly headlined the measure as a “default” 20mph speed limit on their own websites.
It is however true that 20mph is not the “default” limit across all roads in Wales, as other roads, like motorways, aren’t affected.
The Welsh government has also denied that the new law introduced a “blanket” 20mph restriction, as has been claimed by the Welsh Conservatives, as some restricted roads will be exempt from the new speed limit.
It says: “This is not a blanket change. These changes will affect most 30mph roads, but not all.”
It’s important that government policies are accurately and clearly represented by politicians, as not doing so can cause confusion and have the potential to affect people’s opinions of parties or how they choose to vote.
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