20mph speed limit debate delayed until March despite record-breaking petition and driver fury
Mark Drakeford said the debate would not take place until March 2024
PA/GETTY
First Minister Mark Drakeford has told MPs that he will take a record-breaking petition seriously after it called for new 20mph speed limits to be scrapped.
Responding to the Welsh Affairs Committee, he clarified that the petition will be responded to using standard procedures, as is the case with other petitions.
However, a response to the petition will not be heard until at least next March, in a blow to motorists who were hoping that laws would change again soon.
Mark Drakeford has consistently backed the speed limit changes, saying they would save lives and reduce the number of accidents across Wales.
WATCH NOW: Welsh public give their thoughts on 20mph speed limits
The petition has more than 462,000 signatures, becoming the most popular petition on the Senedd website of all time.
The threshold needed for the Petitions Committee to consider it for a debate is just 10,000, with the 20mph speed limit petition breaking the benchmark in a matter of days.
The petition called on the Welsh Government to “rescind and remove the disastrous 20mph law”, claiming that it had provided no evidence to support the safety benefits.
Speaking to the Welsh Affairs Committee earlier today, the First Minister was questioned whether he recognised “concerns” about the speed limits for emergency services.
While emergency vehicles can travel faster than the 20mph speed limit in residential hours, there were concerns about firefighters making it to the fire station to be able to attend a call.
Responding to the “concerns”, the First Minister said: “There are some individual voices in some services that have expressed concern.
“The services themselves have not and of course we work very closely with them. The rules are no different in a 20 mile an hour road than they are in a 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 mile road.
“Emergency services are able to travel above the speed limit where there is a case for them to do so. None of that has changed.
“And I think a number of these concerns are concerns in advance of the facts, when it comes to operating the system on the ground, I don't think that those fears will materialise.”
The creator of the petition, Mark Baker, suggested that he wanted to keep the petition active until the original end date of March 13, 2024, to see how many signatures it could attract.
Based on the number of signatures, the Welsh population is supportive of the petition message and wants the Government to take action and scrap the speed limit changes.
The rollout of the new speed limits on restricted roads has been met with criticism from drivers around Wales and opposition politicians.
Some motorists have taken further steps to discredit the new laws by spray painting over the speed limit signs and protesting in major cities.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
The petition is the most-signed petition in Senedd history
Senedd Petitions
The speed limit changes, which were introduced on September 17, made Wales the first country in the UK to have 20mph be the default limit for restricted roads.