Thousands of drivers have backed a new petition calling on the Government to “stop the unreasonable reduction” of speed limits to 20mph across the country.
The petition, which was created by Shane Tomlinson, has already been signed by 8,193 people. He said the UK was seeing 20mph speeds rolled out “without sufficient consideration for the everyday road users”.
Tomlinson warned that the rest of the UK was following in the footsteps of Wales, which launched a new policy to have all restricted roads be 20mph as standard.
This would apply to roads which usually have street lights on them, placed no more than 200 yards apart, which have historically had a 30mph speed limit.
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Almost 10,000 people have backed a petition against the rollout of 20mph speed limits
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While 20mph became the new default speed limit, the Government worked with local authorities to identify which roads should be kept at 30mph.
The decision was met with widespread backlash including protests, petitions and calls for the Welsh Labour Government to amend the policy to give people a greater say in their local areas.
The petition has called on the Labour Government to review and reconsider the imposition of 20mph speed limits, in favour of a “sensible, evidence-based approach”.
Tomlinson added: “This reduction is not truly in the interest of road safety or the residents’ well-being. Instead, many believe it is a thinly veiled attempt to generate revenue through fines and increased enforcement.
“Speed cameras and traffic monitoring systems are now more prevalent, leading to hefty fines for those who accidentally exceed the new, overly restrictive limits.
“Such measures raise the suspicion that this policy is more about money-making than meaningful traffic safety improvements.”
While the petition is on Change.org and not on the official Parliament’s website, it could gain enough attention and prompt a reply from the Government on whether it will make any changes to its national policy.
Former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh suggested that local authorities would be given the powers to decide on 20mph speed limits and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, rather than having the Government impose a blanket rule across the country.
This petition follows a similar move in Wales which attracted the support of almost 470,000 signatures on the Senedd petitions website, which broke records.
The petition called on the Welsh Government to “rescind and remove the disastrous 20mph law” following the introduction of the lower speed limit across the nation in September 2023.
It quickly became the most-signed petition in Senedd history, with a staggering 469,571 signatures and contributed to the downfall of the policy and Mark Drakeford’s tenure as First Minister.
The petition outranked other popular calls including pleas to open new hospitals and allow supermarkets to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.
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The 20mph speed limit rule changes sparked protests across Wales
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It stated: “Welsh Government claim to have supporting evidence stating that reducing to 20mph EVERWHERE saves lives! Yet we get flyers merely claiming that it will.
“The Welsh Government was put there BY THE PEOPLE OF WALES, We are your boss! We demand that this foolish idea be stopped.”
