Casualties on roads have fallen by a quarter

The Welsh Government has revealed promising figures showing a significant improvement in road safety across the country, with both collisions and casualties on 20mph and 30mph roads seeing a substantial decline.

Data recorded between April and June 2024 shows a near 24% drop in collisions and casualties compared to the same period in 2023, marking the lowest figures recorded outside of the pandemic.

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The reduction is part of a broader trend that began following the introduction of the 20mph speed limit in September 2023. Since then, the number of collisions has dropped by 26%, while casualties have decreased by 28% on both 20mph and 30mph roads combined. These reductions represent the three largest quarterly improvements in road safety outside of the pandemic period, providing early signs of success for the new speed limit policy.

Ken Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, expressed cautious optimism about the trend. “The data published today provides encouraging signs that things are moving in the right direction, with a fall year-on-year in collisions and casualties—the lowest on record outside the Covid pandemic period,” he said.

Mr Skates also emphasized that while the numbers are encouraging, road safety improvements take time. “We recognise there is still a way to go. We’ve always said it will take many years before we see any significant impact, but these figures are beginning to show a positive trend towards making our roads safer for everyone,” he added.

Local authorities are currently evaluating feedback from residents regarding speed limits and road safety measures, using revised government guidelines to ensure speed limits are appropriate and effective. These ongoing efforts are aimed at making roads safer, with road safety remaining a central focus in all decision-making processes.

The Welsh Government noted that road safety statistics are often influenced by seasonal factors such as traffic volume and weather conditions, making it more meaningful to compare data from the same periods year-on-year. For example, figures recorded during the second quarter of the year—April to June—tend to be higher than those from January to March, a trend observed in 11 of the last 15 years.