Fleet managers should consider adding their support to calls for a much wider use of 20mph speed limits across the UK, according to a leading software and management specialist.

Fleetcheck has made its call based on the initial results of the 20mph programme which was introduced in Wales in September 2023 – these show a “dramatic” reduction in road casualties.

The new regulations attracted major controversy in Wales when they reduced almost every previous 30mph speed limit to 20mph – protests against the changes saw a petition with half million signatures delivered to the Welsh Parliament and several instances of the new 20mph signs being defaced (pictured above).

When new First Minister Vaughan Gething was elected in early 2024 he admitted the blanket speed limit change had been wrong and promised a more targeted approach, with some limits reverting to 30mph.

Overall, however, the 20mph limit has been retained and now figures for the third quarter of 2024 newly published by the Welsh Government show 100 fewer causalities on urban roads compared to the same period in 2023.

Reacting to the figures Peter Golding, managing director of Fleetcheck described them as apparently the lowest Q3 figures for road accidents involving injury ever seen in Wales and about a fifth less than the previous year.

“While it is fair to suggest more experience is needed to find out whether this pattern is sustained, results of this type suggest that lower limits are having a dramatic effect on casualties,” Golding said

“Organisations such as Brake and Cycling UK are backing the call for wider use of 20mph zones and the question is whether the fleet sector should do the same? It’s arguable that there is not just a moral imperative to do so but that it is very much in the spirit of the driving at work risk management culture.”

Golding added that anecdotal feedback from fleets about lower speed limits was mixed. Some saw them as a hindrance to efficiency while others were relaxed about their operational impact and recognised the potential they had for improving safety.

“Drivers of cars and vans who make multi-stop journeys in urban areas are often resistant to 20mph zones because they are going from appointment to appointment in difficult traffic conditions and the lower limit just feels very slow.

“There’s also an argument that lower speed limits may force some fleets, such as delivery companies, into reducing the number of drops they can make in any given time period, and it would be interesting to hear about the experience of these businesses in Wales.

“However, there remains the potential for hundreds or even thousands of fewer road casualties every year if we adopted similar measures in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and that’s something very difficult for fleets to ignore, in our opinion.”