20 MILES PER HOUR MADNESS
INTRODUCING 20MPH LIMIT IN WALES WILL COST US MORE MONEY AND TIME SAY CABBIES
From Sunday 17 September, most 30mph speed limits in Wales changed to 20mph making it one of the world’s first countries to have a default 20mph limit. This is, according to the Welsh Govern- ment, to ‘keep our communities safer and improve our quality of life’. However, many Welsh people, and particularly cab drivers, say that the reduction to 20mph is going to cost them time and money. Cabbies in Cardiff have said that as well as costing them more, the change will lead to an increase in road rage among drivers. John Lewis, who is a taxi driver in Rhoose, said the move will cost people like him more money. “High speed is one thing, I appreciate that entirely. Nobody wants to be going past a school or hospital at high speed where there are children around or vulnerable adults, etc,” he said. “For a main road, just a normal road - how does 20mph change anything? It’s going to be costing more fuel. If I’ve got to go slower, obviously it clogs up the DPF (diesel particulate filter) on the cars - that’s going to be more repair bills for the car and therefore in the long run, it’s going to cost us more money.” Alex Leonard, a cabbie in Cardiff, said working in the 20mph zones in the city costs him extra fuel every day. “I couldn’t get out over second gear,” he told ITV News Wales. “It’s just a row of cars and every day I filled up my tank and it would be an average of £7 more a day.” Mr Leonard said the policy means “slower jobs”, explaining that the customer will have to allow more
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400,000 signatures - the most by any petition on the Welsh Parliament website ever. The petition claims the Welsh government has failed to produce “any convicing evidence” to support the policy.
Petition
time to get to their train station. He added: “They potentially might miss their train, if they’re going to catch onward travel, so it’s going to have not only an impact on me but on the customer as well.” Tyler Dalton works as a taxi driver in the Flintshire area. Raising his concerns about the change to 20mph, he said: “Most of my fares are local fares, that means each job is going to take 50% longer to do and my earnings are going to drop by those margins.” Stephen Bather raised his concerns over the effects the changes could have on delivery drivers. He said: “I used to work in the transport industry - it was hard work then getting around. But, I’ve chatted to a few couriers since and their employers still give them the same targets etc so there’s no way they will be able to reach them at 20mph.
“Is this another way to stick a spanner in the works for British drivers? I agree with it around the schools. Seems the power happy Senedd couldn’t care less about anyone’s views or how it impacts life in any way!” Meanwhile, a petition calling for the default 20mph speed limit to be scrapped has reached over
organisers say the so-called “foolish idea” should be stopped. The Welsh Conservatives have said people have already “had enough’ of the lower limit. “For more than 45,000 people to sign a petition within 24 hours shows the extent of public outrage towards Labour’s madcap policy,” said shadow transport minister Natasha Asghar. Ms Asghar accused Labour and Plaid Cymru of having an “anti- worker, anti-road and anti- motorist agenda”.
Opposition is gaining momentum with little sign of easing as 20mph signs are targeted and defaced by protesters around Wales. Deputy climate change minister, Lee Waters, who led the intro- duction of the new 20mph faced a Conservative no confidence vote on 27 September: “To propose that the Senedd has no confidence in the deputy minister for climate change given the record-breaking number of signatories to the petition: ‘We want the Welsh Government to rescind and remove the disastrous 20mph law’.” The motion was easily defeated by 42 votes to 16, after no other parties backed it. Before the vote, Mr Waters said he understood “lots of people are angry and frustrated’ and “we are listening”.
But Natasha Asghar said he should go “before you cause any more damage”.
OCTOBER 2023 PHTM
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