I have driven over 2 million miles over the last 45 years in the UK, up to 85,000 miles per year and I can guarantee that so called traffic calming schemes and smart motorways only server to make the roads more dangerous. If the onus was put on pedestrians instead of blaming car drivers for pedestrian actions then the roads would be a safer place for everyone. By reducing speed limits all that happens is we end up with more cars on the road at any one time. For example if average speeds are halved then the number of cars on the roads will quadruple because not only would each car take twice as long to complete its journey but the resulting congestion also doubles journey time. I noticed that my fuel consumption has also doubled over the last 20 years as I spend more and more time in traffic jams. This is of course bad for the environment as well as our pockets. A journey from Cambridge to Edinburgh used to take me 5 hours and it now takes around 12 hours.

The smugness coming from that woman is disgusting

What do you want us motorists to do? Get out of the car and walk through a village etc.??

What a silly myopic woman. In Wales we have 20mph at schools (controlled by time of day) and hospitals. Most people agree with that. It's common sense to protect children and people exiting or entering hospitals. Blanket 20mph leads to stress through bunching and pollution as heavy lorries struggle to maintain that speed. Abergavenny where a blanket 20mph is in operation on a main through route as there is a bridge weight restriction on the only alternative. Watching heavily laden lorries belching out particulates is both uneccesary and harmful.

If the establishment want it YOU don’t, trust me on that

Short answer no. A lorry going 20 mph will kill you. What are you going to do make them go 5 mph? Roads are dangerous. How about some education instead, plus rooting out the druggies, drunks and insane.

Where I live we have LTN's, 20mph speed limits, the congestion charge and ULEZ. It is miserable!

Sounds like the Welsh Government Knows Best and don't you dare disagree!!!

We don't need to find excuses to say no to this stupid campaign. We don't want to waste our time, we want to get where we need to be as quickly as possible. Yes we can drive 20 or 10 miles which may make it a little safer, but 30 miles worked all this time and there isn't enough data to JUSTIFY a change.

You need to vastly change vehicle's gearing then to be able to stick in a gear long enough without further engine wear. 20 is too much for 1st and not enough to stick in 2nd for most cars. You are also not factoring in the safety statistics properly. If you are going to have 20mph max then you might as well force everyone onto bicycles.

The burden of responsibility for pedestrian safety is always on the motorist, when will people start taking responsibility for their own safety too and pay more attention to the roads and not their phones. I understand there is a need for slower speeds in certain areas but a blanket change is not needed. Not all cars and motorcycles have limiters so drivers will have to focus on speedo instead of the road ahead so good luck with that.

20mph is more stressful. If people need to do 20mph when obviously it is safer to go faster, then they'll be in a rush constantly. They'll be less willing to be civil elsewhere in society outside a vehicle. They'll just push their way through people while on foot to make up the time even if the savings are only perceived.

If it is about safety, why not 10 mph, or 5 mph?

Shouldn’t think the safety aspect would change at all. It just means cars running far less efficiently will stay in areas longer 🤔

More pollution, anger, traffic jams and misery, they play with fire

20 mph speed zones! MIGHT ASWELL WALK! Wonder if that's what they want looooooooooool well in the words of LEE ANDERSON! #THEYCANFKOFF!

The sooner such rules are repealed and money is stopped being wasted on nonsense the better

What makes me laugh is that here in Wales we have steep hills to drive up and 20 mph just won't cut it.. I have one just down the road.. But drakeford does not drive and lives in Cardiff so he don't give a fig.

What a stupid rule, there are road crossings for pedestrians. It’s another dig at car drivers and trying keep at a low speed limit with modern cars is much more stressful and hard on the driver.

All the buses In my Welsh Town were running over an hour late by late afternoon today. My bus home from work was canceled as it was running so late so I had a mile walk to get home well over an hour later than normal

People can walk safely on pavements and cross safely at traffic lights, whatever the speed of the cars are on the road NEXT to them. People walk on pavements, NOT ON ROADS, which are made for CARS, NOT PEOPLE.

Less stress? Its annoying as f**k!

Watch Wales grind to a halt.They deserve to for the way they vote.

Someone needs to put a stop to this nonsense, speed doesn’t kill its poor driving along with idiot pedestrians / kids not looking before they step into the road.

I really don't understand how a disabled driver finds it more strain and stress to drive at 20mph rather than 30 or 40mph as Natalie says. Town centres and villages are more crowded than ever, irresponsible parking has reached ridiculous levels and there is so much more traffic on the road than say 40 or 50 years ago when these speed limits were deemed acceptable. If public transport was more reliable and economical then this wouldn't be such a big problem but it seems everyone has a car these days and everyone is in a rush to get wherever they are going and the police have long since given up actually policing the roads (along with everything else it seems!). I don't think 20mph is such a big ask. The whole world needs to slow down I think!

At least 90% are against this in Wales.

Dam its a surprise i ever made it too 50 ........Oh wait thats right i have a brain and respect the dangers that are on the roads Shock Horror

The amount of e-scooters i see going around doing more than 20mph, it takes half an hour to get past them. 😂

When in primary school it was a police officer that gave us lessons on how to cross the road safely laced with some incidents he attended where an accident had happened.. I have since crossed the road safely for 70 years.

Most hybrids the petrol or diesel engine kicks in after around 25 mph

Is that a fly on Anna's camera?

Nope! My eyes are on the speedometer rather than the road. Much more likely to hit someone.

Who is this Anglican flip flop?

30 m.p.h originates from the speed of running horses. Will horse riders will be fined for speeding in 20 m.p.h areas?

The dinghies are going faster than that….

I sold my car in wales because of the 20 mph rule, my car was a manual drive and at that speed wear and tear went up, fuel consumption went up and emissions went up that was the reality. I now walk or catch a bus but it has increased my time commuting and it is no safer for me as a pedestrian as where I live most of the 20 mph roads still have the 30mph signs up

how it it safer when a driver has to spend more time looking at the speedometer to stay within the 20 limit. Surely the driver should be looking at the road conditions and not worrying even more about speed - going over the 20 limit is much faster, 33% faster than going over 30. To be safer and staying in the 20 limit a driver would need to drive several mph under 20 and be in a low gear like first or second and that would be producing much more NoX emissions and be very damaging to both the engine and gearbox. Cars were not designed to be diven for extended periods in low gear. The higher the gear the more fuel efficient.

What are pedestrian crossings for then?

The slower you go, the longer you're on the road. Therefore more cars on the road at the same time. Leading to increased congestion and worse emissions because vehicles are not at top gear.

Hahaha not enough police too police it but it is a good Cash Grab 👍

If you want pedestrians to be safe on roads then educate them on road safety. Roads are for cars pavements are for people.

Just walk…you know that’s the endgame

Tuesday 19/09/23 1630 petition against this is now183529.

20 mph is the max,so because I`m such a good vitue signalling woke person, I intend to drive at 10 mph to be even safer.I know this will cause anger by following drivers, and will cause delay and extra pollution ,but it will be for the greater good.Drive safely out there.

It is yet another dumb idea based on dubious claims and speculation. Driving slower does not increase safety.

It’s safe if we. Do away with traffic completely. That doesn’t work for our food deliveries etc. So we will all die of starvation. There is no argument against alarmism and silly ideas.

Not sure i would take an University study these days as proof of anything apart from it will be biased.

Haven't seen any evidence they are

The country is going downhill faster.🤭

It’s all about the continued war on the motorist.

Consultation process was 1000 ppl.Petition against ,I believe,is now over 450000 and growing.Are we living in a democratic society or not? Surely this cannot be ignored

It is a somwhat safer speed for watching GB news segments on you're phone whilst driving. I would recommend around 12mph.

Quiet electric cars doing 20mph? - Very painful for all involved. Especially if you cross thinking you have time and then get run over by a bike doing 35.

Why only 20 mph. 1 mph is much safer? If it’s really about safety, not control, power, and authority.

Speeding tickets for everyone doing 25 mph unless you live in rich areas where ut won't apply

Drakeford has totaly lost the plot , the welsh voted labour this is what you get

It's silly and unsafe.

If a car hits a pedestrian or cyclist at 20 mph instead of 30mph, the damage done will be less. That is simple physics. You don't need surveys or statistics to know that. Travelling at 20, not 30, does not increase congestion, volume of traffic and stoppages, i.e., junctions and lights etc increase congestion. Also the idea that driving at 20 causes more pollution and worse fuel consumption is nonsense. I know because i live in a town with a large 20-mph zone. It's about making the environment better for walkers and cyclists. I suspect that those complaining about these 20 zones don't walk or cycle anywhere and drive everywhere.

Just for Fun! I have been driving at 20 mph in 30 mph zones in North Wales over the past 2 days! Yesterday I had a driver swerving from side to side on my rear bumper, as if warming tyres up for an F1 Race! Today I had the driver behind continuously flashing the car headlights! 20 mph seems to cause ROAD RAGE!

Yes, clearly 20mph speed limits are safer 🙄

Pedestrians must use pavements. Reduced speed doesn't prevent injury, it lessens the severity of injury.

That woman ANNA, is obviously NOT a driver and if she is she needs to go on an advanced driving course to learn more about driving !!! That's right ANNA BLAME EVERYBODY ELSE FOR ACCIDENTS !!

That will make drivers more tired...

I have never heard of Anna Semlyen, but she comes across as totally "BONKERS" , something definitely not right with that woman . I am a pretty good judge of character and Anna Semlyen has definitely got a lot of issues that need addressing by a psychologist .

Some of the argument for imposing 20mph limit seems to be from parents whose kids were killed on roads, and in such cases it's a delicate matter, but is it not possible that some or even all of them were just not careful enough and stepped out into oncoming traffic? As a teenager I was knocked off my bike - but it was my fault - I was being a dozy idiot that day! I was flung into the air and managed to do a nice roll on hitting the ground and broke my wrist, and had a bad shoulder for years, but I feel sorry for the van driver whose van bonnet as bent and couldn't start the van! In a similar vein, if I were to go onto a live railway track and grab hold of the line and get electrocuted, should all trains be banned, or altered in some way? Or, to quote Frank Zappa (regarding his court battle against censoring of his album) it's like 'treating dandruff by decapitation' (not that losing a member of family is as trivial as that, but hopefully you get my point....?).

They Still be going 35mph 😂 20mph here I'm only one do speed Limit Other drivers overtake And they get away with it.

Road journeys will now be quicker and second hand car prices will be lower .. let me explain why. So many bad drivers will now loose their licence that there will be less cars on the road. Remember, one double decker bus can hold up to 60 bad drivers and get them to the shops much quicker. And because traffic presently moves at 5 mph the new speed of 10mph will halve their journey times. Bad drivers will sell their cars, flood the market and prices will drop dramatically. As well as this, the NHS can now spend more time treating patients with long term illnesses because they will have to treat less road casualties. There will be less ambulances, police cars and fire engines attending accidents. Again, this will speed up journey times. Think of the saving to be made when insurance companies don't have to pay for the actions of bad drivers ! I love my street now .. 20mph and it is so quiet, feels less hurried, is safer and my journeys on foot are much quicker because I don't have to dodge speedsters any more .. I'll make sure my street stays this way - it all makes complete sense .. Have a nice trip :)

Wales 20mph why ? = 20mph proven to be no safer than 30mph ICE cars stop at 30mph very quick. It takes the very heavy EV Cars as long to stop at 30mph as it takes an ICE car to stop at 50mph. 20mph = EV cars cannot stop quick enough at 30mph - they are too heavy and too dangerous for 30mph roads. So inreality the new road rulings 20mph and lots of 60/50 mph being lowered to 40mph should only apply to EV - this then puts them on par with ICE in stopping distances. EVs have remote stop systems and are tracked so the tech is all already in place to just apply all the new lowered speed limits to EVs.

A man that calls himself Natalie.

This is a distraction from the Ukraine conflict

That anna is a lier

Sorry but Mr drakeford is making Wales into a Bunny boiler state . They are con artist , perhaps its time for me go ditch my car with six gears and buy a souped up disability scooter, wheeeeeeeeeeee

“There is not enough evidence to conclude that there has been a significant change in collisions and casualties following the introduction of 20mph limits in residential areas” Atkins AECOM and Professor Mike Maher (UCL) were commissioned by the Department of Transport in 2014 to address the gap in evidence available on the effectiveness of 20mph speed limit (signed only) schemes. Twelve case study schemes were studied, from a variety of area types, road types and scale. Published 22 November 2018 Last updated 11 March 2019

What is wrong with driving at 20 mph? The arguments against are just bizarre.

Well, first put your child Infront of a car preferably an SUV doing 30 mhp then put your neighbors child in front of one doing 20mph. We'll compare results

What happens if you go up a hill and down a hill you wil have to keep your foot on the break all the time drivers wil be spending a fortune on break pads its utter ridiculous all of us in wales be bumper to bumper maze well swap my car for a mobility scooter they do up to 20mph

We really don't fuss about this in Wales, you'r a laughing stock making such a big thing of it, GROW UP.

This is just another attack on public liberty. This can only increase pollution, as an engine will turn more times in lower gears, which in turn will add to the argument for a ban on cars in even more places. Also, this is about pandering to the cyclist movement which in itself is a danger and menace to pedestrians. I have stopped cycling in many areas because of the amount of aggressive cyclists who do not appear to understand the rules of the road and who, at the same time, believe they are ultimately in the right, whatever they do, because they are on a bike??? I have come close to being hit by cyclists so many times when walking. We have done so much to screw-up our road structures for the benefit of cyclists but if anything there are even more of them now who cycle on pavements.

Most cars have speed limiters fitted use them.

Increase them to 30 again and stop piddling about.

That woman is a simpleton lol

Shes ridiculous. Im stressed thinkin about it.

Shes on the rong planet