This month has seen the first crash statistics released by police forces since the introduction the controversial 20mph default limit in Wales. Welsh Government and those backing the limit change welcomed the figures which showed a positive change overall in the number of collisions and injuries.
North Wales Live has taken a dive into the figures for the final quarter (October, November and December) of 2023 – and compared this to previous quarters in Wales. We’ve also looked at the specific North Wales figures to look at the early patterns that have emerged in the first full three months since the limit was rolled out nationally.
It is obviously early days in the life of the new limit and changes are already planned due to the backlash that has come from many drivers across Wales. These figures also come before enforcement was stepped up in March of this year.
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But they make interesting reading with overall positive signs but also a few areas to keep an eye on as more figures are released. For example in North Wales while the stats for 20mph and 30mph roads are promising there has been a rise in crashes on roads with higher speed limits. There were also more fatalities in the last quarter of 2023 than in the same period in any of the previous five years.
We’ll start with the overall quarter figures for the whole country and how these compare with the previous year. In total there were 737 collisions where someone was injured – and from those there were 982 casualties. This compares to 889 collisions and 1,200 casualties in Q4 of 2022. The 2023 figure is also lower than any previous fourth quarter shown in the figures (starting 2018) with the exception of lockdown hit 2020.
That’s a good start for the new limit.
But when it comes to serious injuries the 245 figure for 2023 is the highest since 2018, then 265 people were seriously injured. However this could be affected by a change in the way Dyfed Powys police force categorises its casualties which was expected to mean more casualties labelled as serious rather than slight. Their serious injury figure went from 44 in 2022 to 106 in 2023.
The number of fatalities was sadly higher in Q4 2023 – with 28 deaths on the roads. This includes eight in North Wales – including the four teenage friends who tragically died in Gwynedd last November.
This was more than in any of the previous five years that the records show. The next highest is 23 deaths – which occurred in 2018/19/20.
The total fatalities on 20mph and 30mph roads was six in Q4 2023 – down from 9 in Q4 2024. But this was accompanied by an increase in fatalities on higher speed roads.
In North Wales, there were 214 casualties in the final quarter of 2023. Of these 159 were slight injuries, 47 were serious, and as stated earlier there were 8 fatalities. In the last quarter of 2022 there 210 casualties. Of these there were 160 slight injuries, 44 serious, and six fatalities.
It means the figures for each of those quarters are fairly similar but what has changed is where the crashes took place.
There was a drop in the number of crashes on 20mph and 30mph roads in the last three months of 2023 compared to 2022. Note these are broken down into slight or serious injury, or fatal collisions rather than total casualty numbers. (i.e one crash in which two people died would count as one fatal collision).
In 2023 there were 62 slight injury collisions on 20mph and 30mph roads in North Wales, 17 serious injury collisions and one fatal. This compares to 84 slight, 25 serious and one fatal on these roads in Q4 2022.
This works out at 80 crashes on these roads after 20mph was rolled out in 2023 and 110 in 2022.
But there has been an upswing in the number of crashes on the higher speed roads in the region. In 2023 there were 77 collisions on 40mph to 70mph roads – of these 24 were serious and 4 fatal. The same period in 2022 saw 49 collisions – with 15 of them serious and 5 fatal.
This may need watching as more figures emerge. North Wales Police and Welsh Government were asked to comment.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We’re working closely with local authorities to ensure we get the right speeds on the right roads. This work is currently focussed on local roads that defaulted to 20mph but we continue to monitor collision data on all roads and will make changes where it is the right thing to do.”
Here is a breakdown on the number of crashes on roads of different speeds in North Wales.
Quarter 4 2023
20mph roads: 54 slight (injury collisions), 15 serious, 0 fatalities
30mph: 8 slight, 2 serious, 1 fatal
40mph roads: 10 slight, 5 serious
50mph: 4 slight, 2 serious, 1 fatal
60mph: 31 slight, 14 serious, 2 fatal collisions
70mph: 4 slight, 3 serious, 1 fatal
Quarter 4 2022
20mph: 2 slight slight injury collisions, 2 serious
30mph: 82 slight, 23 serious, 1 fatal
40mph: 3 slight, 3 serious, one fatal
50mph: 3 slight, 1 serious, 1 fatal
60mph: 17 slight, 9 serious, 2 fatal
70mph: 6 slight, 2 serious, 1 fatal
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William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
