First Minister Mark Drakeford has backed the rollout of 20mph speed limits across Wales despite being hit by mass opposition and widespread protests.
The Welsh leader, who will be succeeded this weekend, said the 20mph policy will save lives and has already reduced the number of car accidents in the region.
The 20mph speed limits were introduced last year and are in place where streetlights are present, which tend to be in residential areas.
Data gathered by the Transport for Wales showed the average speeds on main roads dropped an average of four miles per hour from 28.9mph to 24.8mph, highlighting the impact of the lower speed limits.
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Drakeford is set to be replaced as First Minister on Saturday
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Drakeford, who is currently taking part in the Covid inquiry told Radio Wales Breakfast that he was proud of the 20mph zones that he believed “will save people's lives, particularly save the lives of children”.
On Saturday, Drakeford is set to be replaced by either the Economy Minister Vaughan Gething or Education Minister Jeremy Miles as the new leader of the Welsh Government.
Drakeford added: "You can either just spend your time sitting back and doing the easy things, and hanging on to the political capital that you've accumulated, or you can do the difficult things, the challenging things.
"I'm absolutely open to the fact that other reasonable people could have come to different decisions, but what I was trying to explain was the state of knowledge at the time. The decisions that we made in Wales were reasonable decisions and I think that's the real test."
However, the Welsh public has been less impressed with the new speed zones, with backlash and frequent demonstrations taking place.
Posting on social media, one resident said: “Setting stupid limits is not conducive to road safety for it promotes a culture of ignoring limits.
“Part of the reason we have speed awareness courses is because officers in the past told people things like they were fine at 80-90 on the motorway, creating a culture that abused the limit, and which apparently has successfully been used as a defence.”
Having been bombarded with hate comments from angry residents about the speed limits, Lee Waters, deputy minister for climate change who led the 20mph rollout resigned.
Taking to X he stated: “Over the last 15 years I’ve spent far too much time on Twitter.
“It stopped being fun a while ago but I now get a pile of malign comments for even the most innocuous posts. When I leave my transport role in a fortnight I’ll be deleting my account.”
A public health study estimated that the 20mph speed limits would result in 40 per cent fewer collisions, between six and 10 lives saved and 1,200 to 2000 people avoiding injury.
Responding to Drakeford's comments, Natasha Asghar MS, Shadow Transport Minister, said: “The reaction from the public to Labour’s barmy 20mph speed limit should have come as no surprise to the First Minister, if he actually listened to the public.
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The 20mph speed limits is estimated to result in 40 per cent fewer collisions
PA“However, he and his Lycra-clad cronies are out of touch with the people of Wales, focusing on their pet projects rather than more doctors, nurses, and teachers.
“The Welsh Conservatives would scrap the costly 20mph speed limit on day one.”
