More than half of drivers cutting speed since 20mph

The latest figures are based on monitoring which took place last November and in January

More than half of motorists have kept within acceptable speed limits after the 20mph default limit began in Wales, official figures show.

Data from the monitoring of 3.5 million vehicles has been published by Transport for Wales, showing on average 57.8% stayed below 24mph.

It comes as latest enforcement figures show a big jump in motorists caught speeding in May - nearly 4,400.

The highest speed of drivers caught breaking the 20mph limit was 88mph.

Results from 10 monitoring sites showed the best compliance was in the village of Peniel, north of Carmarthen, where nearly 70% stayed below 24mph.

The lowest compliance was around Blaenavon, Cwmbran and Pontypool, Torfaen, where fewer than 43% kept within the acceptable range.

The Transport for Wales report says before the new law came in last September, monitoring at the same sites found barely 20% of motorists were driving below 24mph.

The average speed had also dropped from 28.9mph before the law change to 24.6mph – a reduction of 4.3mph.

Only 19% of vehicles were actually driven under 20mph – but drivers haven’t been facing enforcement unless they exceed 26mph.

At Peniel, 29% of vehicles were driven under 20mph.

The latest figures only cover up to January, when enforcement began.

It comes as the Welsh government is set to reconsider the limit on some roads later this year after a review found difficulties on some main routes.

The policy has proved controversial, prompting a petition and led to the new transport secretary admitting the guidance needed correcting.

The default 20mph speed limit was introduced on 37% of all roads in Wales, switching from 37% of roads having a 30mph limit.

Separately, GoSafe enforcement figures show 4,286 drivers faced enforcement action after being caught in May.

The average speed of a driver caught in mid and south Wales was 28.3mph and 32.7mph in north Wales.

There were two drivers caught driving at 88mph – one in each region.

Road casualty figures out last week showed there had been a 12% drop in people killed and seriously injured at 20mph and 30mph for the last three months of 2023, compared with the same period in 2022.

There had been 99 deaths or serious injuries at 20mph.

One leading insurance company this week has said it had experienced a 20% drop in accident claims in Wales at a time when they might expect them to rise and said the restriction was “clearly having an impact”.