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Author Name: Alec Muffett
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Wales 20mph limit: Lee Waters admits more common sense needed

2024-09

Waters also spoke of opposition to the policy, acknowledging it had been "greater and lasted longer than what we anticipated".

"I don't think we prepared the ground enough and don't think people anticipated on what a big change this will be," he said, adding it could "take time" for people to accept the policy.

“It took a long time for people to get used to seatbelts, took a long time for people to get used to [a ban on] smoking in public places - but we haven’t gone backwards on any of those policies, and I don’t think we’ll go backwards on this.”

Waters also said the government should have done "far more to make people realise how big of a change this was and how it would apply in their communities".

He added he was confident “the data and evidence shows that it will save lives, and in time it will settle down”.

The Welsh government said collisions on local roads had "reduced significantly."

“We will continue to monitor the long term trend but things are heading in the right direction."

It added it recognised some roads should revert back to 30mph and "that will happen as a result of our review".

On Sunday, the first minister thanked the public for engaging with councils and highlighting, for example, that through roads with 20mph limits had been causing "most frustration".

"But let's not forget that central to this is safety and... the number of collisions has seen a significant reduction," she told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement.

Morgan said it was now for councils to "respond to those local concerns" and take action.

Welsh Conservative transport spokeswoman Natasha Asghar said: "Labour politicians have now admitted on countless occasions after listening exercises that their 20mph policy is unpopular, but refuse to end it.

"The only common sense approach would be to follow what the Welsh Conservatives have said since day one - scrap the £33m scheme altogether and get Wales moving again."
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[1] URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70j0gv5xpdo
[2] URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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