Has 20mph made our roads safer?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

There's a huge difference though in being careless and being dangerous (intent for one). I'd be surprised if any ,non delusional, driver could say they had never been distracted, rushing or confused by abnormal road conditions/traffic/ passengers /other drivers ,etc.

Rare occasions for the driver themself ,but multiply those across the huge amount of road journeys that happen daily and it is fairly obvious that they will lead to the majority of accidents. Making sure those accidents happen at a low speed seems sensible to me but you've clearly already made your mind up.

You've already made it that carelessness was the only thing written in the 2nd most common reason for accidents. Recklessness is another factor, as is being in a hurry. Being careless is one thing, the other two are very different.

In any case, I have made my mind up. There are over a billion car journeys every year in Wales, the overwhelming majority of them will involve 20 or 30mph roads at some point. Something like 1 in 2 million journeys result in a serious injury or death on those speed limits, I reckon half that if you exclude those where drivers or others are at fault.

So, for me, I have to spend perhaps 10 minutes a day going more slowly along roads where there has been no history of serious accidents just because of a blanket approach to make nearly all 30mph roads 20. That equates to over 50 hours a year longer on the road, more fuel costs, more wear and tear, more emissions, all almost completely unnecessary.

I don't have a problem with 20mph limits around schools, housing estates, playgrounds etc. I do have a problem with many on arterial roads where 30mph is unnecessary and can be shown to be unnecessary. All this x% fewer accidents, deaths etc, it should be targetted on roads that need it, not roads where it is utterly pointless.