The man behind 20mph law accuses the Welsh Government of 'sending wrong message' about it

Lee Waters
-Credit: (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)


The man who introduced the 20mph limit to Wales has accused the Welsh Government of undermining the messaging around the policy.

Lee Waters was previously transport minister in the Welsh Government under Mark Drakeford and was the driving force behind the default speed limit for Wales that came in last year. In an interview on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast Mr Waters argued that the police was working.

"Well, it's been a bumpy ride," he said. "It was always going to be, this is a massive change, but the statistics are showing the policy is succeeding in saving lives.

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"Casualties are down by a third - saving heartache for families, easing pressure on the NHS, and improving streets for people. So I think overall, it's been a huge success, but clearly it's been difficult and it's been unpopular, but it was always going to be."

The initial evidence does seem to back up Mr Water's point with there being a marked reduction in accidents in the 20mph zones. However Mr Waters believes that the messaging from Welsh Gov could be undermining the policy.

He said: "My worry is that the behavioural advisors we had in the run up to implementation said you're going to get a section of the population who are going to be evangelists. They're going to stick to 20, they're going to be persuading all their friends. You're going to get a section of the population who are going to absolutely hate it. No matter what you do, you're not going to persuade them. What you should be focused on are the bunch of people in the middle who are going to be influenced by others and who are going to need persuading.

"In the first six months we've seen behaviour change. We've seen speeds come down, but now the messaging has changed - the policy hasn't changed, the messaging has changed; and all we're hearing about now is negatives. We're hearing about how imperfect it was, how unpopular it is. And my concern is that middle group could well be influenced to drop their compliance and there’s a danger that in the next figures we might see casualties and deaths start to creep up again.

"I've had taxi drivers say to me, it’s all changing in September so we don't need to bother sticking to 20. And that's the wrong message, but that's the message that they're hearing. There's a real danger that we unwittingly undermine the success of our own policy by the tone that we're setting. I think we need to say, a year in, it's worked. It's not been perfect, but its working."

He added that the results so far had been "staggering" and the Welsh Government need to hold their nerve. "There's always resistance when it comes to cars and the roads, but the facts to speak for themselves - there's been a 32% reduction in casualties, which is staggering.

"There’s a danger we get the worst of both worlds. We're going to try to placate people who are never going to be placated, and we end up abandoning people who want to support this policy, and they'll gradually start to drive faster, and speeds will start to creep up again.

"We need to hold firm, to hold our nerve: this policy is working. Yes, it's difficult, yes, it's unpopular. Some implementation has been imperfect - it was never going to be perfect. We said that from the beginning, but it's working. It is saving lives."