Wales has become one of the first UK nations to drop default speed limits in built-up residential areas to 20mph (32km/h).
The new limits will apply to most 30mph (48km/h) roads around the country. They are expected to result in 40% fewer collisions, avoid up to 2000 injuries and save up to 10 lives each year.
"By becoming the first nation in the UK to adopt 20mph speed limits, Wales is part of a growing global movement helping ensure roads in built-up areas are safer," says Minister for North Wales, Lesley Griffiths.
"Evidence shows lower speeds result in fewer collisions and help save lives and I hope this change to the law will encourage more people to walk or cycle to places they would have previously driven."
Government analysis shows that lowering the speed limit will have little to no impact on journey times for drivers and, where there is an impact, the average journey will be around one minute longer.
The move is billed as an important behaviour change initiative to support the Welsh Government's vision for walking and bike riding to become the default transport option for short, everyday journeys.
A person hit by a car travelling at 45km/h has a 45% chance of survival, but a 90% chance of survival if the car is travelling at 30km/h. Research also shows lower speed limits can encourage more people to take up bike riding.
The OECD recommends 30km/h as the gold standard for speed limits on local streets.
Wales trialled 20mph speed limits in eight areas around the country, a move shown to be effective in lowering overall speeds. An uptake in active travel to school was also observed in these trial areas, increasing from 49% of all journeys to 74%. You can read the interim monitoring report on these trials here.
There are moves around the globe to improve road safety by lowering speed limits. Towns and cities in other parts of the UK have 20mph limits on residential roads and the same limits on key roads in London have reduced collisions involving vulnerable road users by 36%.
Spain introduced 30km/h speed limits on single lane roads across the country in 2019. Since then, it has reported 20% fewer urban road deaths and reduced bike rider fatalities by 34%.
"Eight out of 10 fatalities in cities are vulnerable road users and this includes pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and e-scooter users," says Álvaro Gómez, Head of the National Road Safety Observatory in Spain. "Speed is key to reducing risk. We have an older population in Spain and we were concerned about the number of pedestrians who were killed or seriously injured in road accidents."
In Australia, 30km/h trials have been rolled out in different locations around the country, including Wollongong, Newcastle and Perth.
Yarra City Council became the first Victorian council to trial 30km/h speed limits on local streets in 2017, and plans are in place to expand this to cover a larger area of Fitzroy and Collingwood.
You can read more about 30km/h speeds on our campaign page.
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