Falls on 20mph and 30mph roads

Road collisions and casualties in Wales continued to fall in the spring of 2026, according to provisional figures published by the Welsh Government on 29 October 2026 and reported on 30 October. Across all roads in Wales, collisions were 19% lower in April to June 2026 than in the same quarter of 2025, while casualties were 20% lower. Police in Wales recorded 638 collisions in the quarter, resulting in 856 casualties.

On roads with 20mph and 30mph limits combined, collisions fell by 22% compared with the same quarter of 2025, and casualties fell by 20%. There were 299 collisions and 378 casualties on those roads in April to June 2026. The Welsh Government counts 20mph and 30mph roads together so that the same set of roads can be compared before and after the default limit changed.

Comparison with before the change

Set against April to June 2023, the last comparable quarter before the default limit changed, collisions on 20mph and 30mph roads are down 37% and casualties down 35%. The Welsh Government said the latest figures were the lowest recorded in this way, excluding data captured during the Covid pandemic. Deputy Minister for Transport Mark Hooper said the figures were extremely encouraging and provided more evidence that the 20mph default limit was helping to make roads safer.

Caveats in the data

The figures are provisional and may be revised, and the bulletin notes that quarterly figures can be volatile and are affected by traffic volume, weather and seasonal patterns. The comparison also describes what happened on those roads, rather than proving by itself how much of the change the speed limit caused. The Welsh Government said it would continue to monitor the figures as part of its ongoing evaluation of the policy, with full data available through StatsWales and its road collisions dashboard.

Sources: Welsh Government News Service | Hello Rayo