Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue support changes to reduce speed limits

Mid Wales Fire and Rescue services have expressed their support for changes to reduce speed limits. In a statement they said:

WE support Welsh Government’s legislative changes to reduce speed limits on restricted roads from 30mph to 20mph as a means of reducing road traffic fatalities and serious injuries in our communities, including in built up areas where people and vehicles mix closely.

This should reduce the number of serious incidents our firefighters will attend and increases their psychological safety from experiencing these traumatic incidents.

We have been asked whether this will affect On-Call Firefighter response times. Our On-Call Firefighters live or work at various locations within our communities and their response times vary accordingly. Not all of them will travel exclusively by car nor will commute solely on roads where 20mph applies. Therefore, we do not foresee these changes adversely affecting our overall response times and we will review their impact in due course.

Our Road Safety Team continues to work closely with partner agencies and emergency service colleagues, to engage with and educate members of the public on the changes and the benefits of driving at lower speeds.

For more information on our role in the change, please visit: https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-enforcement-new-20mph-default-speed-limit