{"id":180424,"date":"2023-09-30T12:05:35","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T12:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotworldreport.com\/?p=180424"},"modified":"2023-09-30T12:05:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T12:05:35","slug":"new-20mph-zones-dont-make-drivers-slow-down-transport-secretary-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotworldreport.com\/world-news\/new-20mph-zones-dont-make-drivers-slow-down-transport-secretary-says\/","title":{"rendered":"New 20mph zones DON&apos;T make drivers slow down, Transport Secretary says"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>New 20mph zones DON&#8217;T make drivers slow down, Transport Secretary Mark Harper says as drivers stage go-slow motorway protest against the new Welsh speed limit<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mark Harper said it was &#8216;not sensible to have a blanket policy&#8217; like that in Wales<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The new 20mph speed limits deployed across Wales do not make drivers slow down, the Transport Secretary has claimed &#8211; as disgruntled drivers stage a go-slow motorway protest against the restrictions along the M4.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Harper said the blanket 20mph speed limits for restricted roads deployed by the Labour-run Welsh government make &#8216;life harder for motorists&#8217; and are &#8216;incredibly unpopular&#8217; with the public.<\/p>\n<p>Mr\u00a0Harper said it was &#8216;not sensible to have a blanket policy&#8217; like the decision in Wales.<\/p>\n<p>The clampdown has seen Wales become the first country in the UK to reduce speed limits down from 30mph in built-up residential areas with a view to saving lives and cutting costs for the NHS.<\/p>\n<p>But many have protested the rollout, staging several demonstrations already this week, before hitting the road this morning as part of a convoy protest driving at 30mph down the M4 from\u00a0Magor Services near Newport to Swansea.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/30\/12\/76010501-12578203-image-a-65_1696071763316.jpg\" height=\"444\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A vehicle is seen with a &#8216;No to 20mph&#8217; sign across its back window and accompanied by police as drivers stage a go slow convoy protest driving at 30mph on the M4 from Magor Services near Newport to Swansea<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/30\/12\/76010687-12578203-image-a-66_1696071956360.jpg\" height=\"779\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mark Harper said the blanket 20mph speed limits for restricted roads deployed by the Labour-run Welsh government make &#8216;life harder for motorists&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Times Radio earlier, Mr Harper said: &#8216;The research the Department for Transport did, a proper research study, showed that it doesn&#8217;t actually make much difference in actually reducing speed(s).<\/p>\n<h3>READ MORE: A war on motorists? A solution to the climate crisis? Or a genuine bid to save lives? Tell us what YOU think about the 20mph zones taking over the UK<\/h3>\n<p>&#8216;Compliance isn&#8217;t good in areas where drivers can&#8217;t see the need for it, so we think local authorities should make these decisions where they think there are sensible reasons, for example, around schools -(it is) perfectly sensible to have a lower speed limit there &#8211; but we shouldn&#8217;t have blanket ones.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;And that is why we&#8217;re looking at strengthening guidance to make it clear that a blanket 20mph speed limit doesn&#8217;t make sense.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>He said widespread 20mph zones &#8216;just makes life harder for motorists, harder for people to get around&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Harper continued: &#8216;Most people get to work in a car, take the kids to school in the car, and it doesn&#8217;t make a lot of sense.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak\u00a0<span>said he was &#8216;slamming the brakes&#8217; on &#8216;hare-brained schemes&#8217; like the 20mph speed limit as well as low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mr Sunak vowed to focus on policies that stem the &#8216;relentless attack on motorists&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He told The Sun: &#8216;I&#8217;m slamming the brakes on the war on motorists &#8211; it is as simple as that.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/30\/12\/76010711-12578203-image-a-67_1696071961346.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales becomes the first country in the UK to reduce speed limits down from 30mph in built-up residential areas with a view to saving lives and cutting costs for the NHS (file image)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/30\/12\/76010755-12578203-image-a-68_1696072136920.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was &#8216;slamming the brakes&#8217; on &#8216;hare-brained schemes&#8217; like the 20mph speed limit as well as low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs)<\/p>\n<p>The remarks come as his Conservative administration in Westminster announced a slew of pro-driving measures ahead of the Tory Party conference in Manchester on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The Department for Transport (DfT) said guidance would be reviewed on 20mph limits to &#8216;prevent their blanket use in areas where it is not appropriate&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The same undertaking would be happening for LTNs in England to &#8216;focus on local consent&#8217;, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>The Whitehall department also announced that a National Parking Platform pilot will be rolled out, meaning that drivers should only have to use an app of their choice to pay for parking instead of downloading multiple apps.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the DfT&#8217;s announcement on Friday, Mr Sunak said the decision by the Welsh Government to drop the default speed limit was &#8216;not right&#8217; and the UK Government would take a &#8216;different approach&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He confirmed to The Sun that local councils in England face a clampdown on &#8216;overzealous&#8217; enforcement of parking and yellow box junctions.<\/p>\n<p>Charges will also be applied on utility firms who dig up roads during peak times, with the extra money diverted to fixing potholes, it has been confirmed.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/30\/12\/76010797-12578203-image-a-69_1696072310678.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A protest against 20mph speed limits makes its way through the city centre last week &#8211; with one protester appearing to superimpose Adolf Hitler&#8217;s facial features over an image or Mark Drakeford<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/30\/12\/76010809-12578203-image-a-71_1696072321940.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Protesters against 20mph speed limits march through Cardiff city centre last week with a banner saying no to the restriction and &#8216;Don&#8217;t comply, don&#8217;t pay&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/30\/12\/76010849-12578203-image-m-72_1696072546140.jpg\" height=\"414\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>First Minister Mark Drakeford said there is &#8216;incontrovertible&#8217; evidence that &#8216;driving more slowly in built-up urban areas saves people&#8217;s lives&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>As part of the package of measures, DfT officials said guidance will be strengthened to make sure bus lanes only operate &#8216;when necessary&#8217; and a consultation will be launched on motorcycles using bus lanes.<\/p>\n<p>More details are expected to be set out in Transport Secretary Mark Harper&#8217;s speech to Tory members on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The Prime Minister has pledged to crack down on &#8216;anti-motorist&#8217; policies and last week delayed the ban on the sale of new conventionally fuelled cars and vans from 2030 to 2035.<\/p>\n<p>The Welsh Government is predicting its change to 20mph speed limits will save up to 100 lives and 20,000 casualties in the first decade.<\/p>\n<p>First Minister Mark Drakeford said there is &#8216;incontrovertible&#8217; evidence that &#8216;driving more slowly in built-up urban areas saves people&#8217;s lives&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>A Department for Transport-commissioned study published in November 2018 found 20mph limits in residential areas were supported by the majority of residents and drivers.<\/p>\n<p>The report concluded there was no evidence of a significant drop in the number of crashes and casualties after the introduction of 20mph limits.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12578203\/New-20mph-zones-DONT-make-drivers-slow-Transport-Secretary-Mark-Harper-says-drivers-stage-slow-motorway-protest-against-new-Welsh-speed-limit.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New 20mph zones DON&#8217;T make drivers slow down, Transport Secretary Mark Harper says as drivers stage go-slow motorway protest against the new Welsh speed limit Mark Harper said it was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New 20mph zones DON&amp;apos;T make drivers slow down, Transport Secretary says - Hot World Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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