The grace period that followed the introduction of Wales' 20mph default speed limit has finished. But the most recently available figures show no fines have yet been given out.
Since September 17, the default speed limit in Wales was reduced from 30mph to 20mph. There was huge opposition to the move, but the Welsh Government said it had made the right call to save lives and improve the country's health.
The deputy minister in charge of the scheme, Lee Waters, had said the grace period about not issuing fines was coming to an end. You can read his comments here. Yet, so far, GoSafe, which runs speed cameras across Wales, said that as of November 6, no fines had been issued.
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When the law came into force, GoSafe temporarily suspended 20mph enforcement in September 2023. The idea behind that to give drivers time to get used to the new speed limit and time for councils to ensure signs are right.
GoSafe say enforcement of 20mph limits was reintroduced at a small number of locations at the beginning of November in places where the speed limit did not change following the new legislation in September, and where the correct signage in place.
"We are working closely with highways authorities across Wales to ensure that our enforcement officers can continue returning to these existing 20mph locations. We will continue to consider new enforcement locations following collisions, or high-risk concerns, in a 20mph area."
GoSafe, along with Welsh Fire and Rescue Services, and other partners, are running a programme called Operation Ugain which will see drivers offered a roadside course rather than a fine. When we asked the fire services when the law started in September there wasn't a consistent picture about the way the courses were being rolled out. However, GoSafe say those operations are now running but numbers of how many have been carried out were not available.
Initial data showed speed limits were going down, but a smaller review a month after the law came into force showed speeds were creeping up. The initial data showed people had reduced their speed by 2.9mph. That would mean an average speed of 27.1mph. GoSafe's website says they will "outline the enforcement thresholds of not less than 10% plus 2mph". That means fines at speeds of 24mph. However, "while the public get used to the change in default limit" it is being increased to 26mph.
