Latest news with #20mph
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Is this the UK's prolific speed camera? Notorious snapper at blind spot wracked up over £1million in fines in 10 months before being CHOPPED down by renegade motorists
A Labour council says it can't afford to replace a vandalized £20,000 speed camera which has brought in more than £1m in fines whilst penalizing drivers for a new controversial 20mph blanket policy. The camera was one of hundreds installed across Wales in 2023 after the new 20mph speed limit was brought in. It caught more than 8,000 drivers in just 10 months on the A4102 in Merthyr Tydfil making it the most prolific speed camera in Wales. But in darkness on November 26th last year a group calling itself South Wales Bladerunners chopped it down. Hard-up Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council says it doesn't have the money to replace the missing camera, even though it's a huge earner for The Treasury. A council spokesperson said: The pole and camera was damaged illegally by a group calling themselves the 'South Wales Bladerunners' and we had to remove it completely for safety reasons. 'The maintenance and replacement of the infrastructure would be at a cost to the Local Authority and we do not have the money to replace it. 'We do not receive any of the funds from fines issued so there is no maintenance budget.' The Council said it reported the act of criminal damage to South Wales Police but it's understood no one has been prosecuted. If every driver snapped by the camera was fined the minimum of £100 it would have netted an estimated £1,120,000 in the 14 months it was in operation. It means The Treasury has missed out on £640,000 since the vigilante group chopped it down. The A4102, known as Swansea Road, in Merthyr Tydfil, is one of dozens of 20mph zones in Wales under review after public protests. The Welsh Government, at the time led by Mark Drakeford, brought in a default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads in September 2023. There was a huge public outcry and almost 500,000 people signed a petition to 'rescind and remove the disastrous 20mph law'. Many of the people who signed felt it was a huge money-making scheme for the cash-strapped Welsh Government. They argued that many of the new 20mph zones, including the A4102, were not in built-up residential areas or accident blackspots. Go Safe, the agency that operates speed cameras in Wales, say they are not designed for income generation. A spokesman said: 'Speed cameras play an important role in reducing the number of people killed or injured on Welsh roads. 'They are installed by local authorities in areas with the highest risk and are paid for using public money. 'They are designed to save lives and when they are damaged by criminals, more public money has to be spent to repair or replace them.' Meanwhile drivers are still being hit by huge fines and losing their licenses after being caught by the speed camera that no longer exists. One driver was caught doing 29mph just a few days before the camera was removed but the case only came to court last month. The man, from Merthyr Tydfil, said: 'It was chopped down nearly eight months ago because so many were angry about the new 20mph limit. 'But drivers caught before it was removed are still being prosecuted. 'Driving at over 20mph is against the law one day and the next day you can do 30mph on the same stretch of road. 'That doesn't seem like justice to me, especially as the council are considering putting it back to a thirty.' The driver, who didn't want to be named, was fined a total of £450, including prosecution costs and a court surcharge after totting up 12 points. He was let off a six-month driving ban because of the hardship it would cause to his family but was told he would be banned if caught again.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Controversial Kings Heath low traffic scheme set for expansion
Birmingham City Council is pushing ahead with the second phase of a divisive Kings Heath traffic scheme, with new 20mph speed limits and one-way streets suburb's Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) has previously split opinion, with restrictions banning through traffic on certain streets proving particularly council said it wanted to reduce traffic in residential neighbourhoods to try to make it safer for people to walk and it also acknowledged the scheme had been "controversial" and there were "strong feelings both in favour and against." So far, so-called modal filters have been introduced to the west of Kings Heath High Street and a section of York Road has been proposed second phase of the scheme would deliver the "planned full expansion" to the east of the High Street and into south would also mitigate the displacement of traffic caused by the "previous partial implementation of the scheme".According to a council report, the second phase would be split into four packages:Revision and consolidation of the temporary measures located mostly to the west of the High measures to the east of the High Street including new modal filters, one-way streets, and traffic calming.20mph speed limit across the project area, including all boundary roads, and traffic calming measures along Coldbath of a bus gate on Addison Road and reinstatement of the right turn from Vicarage Road onto A435 Alcester Road. 'Strong opinions' At a meeting on Tuesday, cabinet members at the Labour-run council agreed to approve the full business case for the first two MacDonald, an NHS doctor appointed road safety commissioner by West Midlands mayor Richard Parker, welcomed the leader at Birmingham City Council, Sharon Thompson added "I think everybody is broadly in agreement that to do nothing is not an option."But the Birmingham Conservative Group said it would scrap the LTN in Kings Heath if it took control of the council, saying the scheme made it harder for many residents to visit high street cabinet member for transport, Majid Mahmood, acknowledged the project had "sparked strong opinions", adding that was why the council had "held seven rounds of consultation, listened to feedback and crucially made changes to the design." This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Fourteen 20mph roads in Newport could revert to 30mph
The maximum speed limit on 14 roads in Newport is set to be changed back to 30mph from 20mph.A review of the Welsh government's 20mph speed limit was announced last year following a public default 20mph speed limit, covering 37% of the Welsh road network, was brought in by the Welsh government in September this year, Newport council said 16 stretches of road could revert back to 30mph. Transport Minister Ken Skates previously said the decision to reverse parts of the controversial £34m default 20mph policy was in response to "consistent" concerns raised by "a lot of people".Last July, the Welsh government gave councils more flexibility to assess the "movement" and "road characteristics" of specific routes, beyond just proximity to schools, hospital and other key March, the maximum speed limit on four busy roads in Cardiff was changed back to 30mph from 20mph, and in February it was announced more than 50 stretches of road in Wrexham would revert to comes as the data for the first year of the policy showed there had been about 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured on 20 and 30mph roads. Newport council invited residents to nominate roads they believed should have been exempted from the Welsh government's decision to lower the nation's default speed limit to of the public offered any objections or comments on those proposals, and the council received a total of 12 representations, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.A new report shows that after further consideration of the objectors' claims, the council decided two of the original 16 roads would remain at 20mph. One was a stretch of Caerphilly Road between Bassaleg and Rhiwderin, which an objector said now felt "safer for pedestrians".The council said a lower speed limit was "appropriate" for the road, which has "narrow footways" and was an "established walking route to school".The other road to remain at 20mph is a section of Usk Road to the east of objector also raised concerns the route was "well-used" by schoolchildren and people accessing the council said people "would feel unsafe about using the established route to walk to school safely" if the speed limit was increased to 30mph along a road which "carries a high pedestrian footfall, including young vulnerable children and the elderly". The council said "valid" objections were made in relation to other roads, but it judged those cases met the government's criteria for exemptions, meaning they may be changed to 30mph speed were a part of Bettws Lane, George Street Bridge, a part of Lighthouse Road, Tredegar House Drive, a part of Tregwilym Road, and Wharf were no valid objections to council proposals to introduce 30mph speed limits on the other roads - namely a part of Bassaleg Road, Duffryn Drive, Duffryn Way, Frederick Street, Morgan Way, a part of Royal Oak Hill, Wern Industrial Estate, and a part of West Nash Rhian Howells, cabinet member for assets and infrastructure, is expected to approve an officer's recommendation later this week to proceed with the speed limit changes on the agreed 14 stretches of announcement by Newport council follows a decision by Denbighshire and Monmouthshire council to reject calls to raise the default 20mph speed limit on a number of roads in the counties.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Gloucestershire Highways warn of 'tsunami' of 20mph requests.
Bids to reduce speed limits in towns and villages across Gloucestershire could overwhelm council officers, a meeting has Spivey, the leader of Gloucestershire County Council, pledged to bring in the speed zones to improve "road safety" and make residents feel more "comfortable". But at a recent meeting, the council's economy and environment chief Colin Chick said he feared the idea would lead to a "tsunami of requests"."We are completely overwhelmed at the moment," Mr Chick told the meeting, adding detail on the complication of getting a speed limit changed. "The difficulty is going to be dealing with it. And having the resources available while continuing to do our everyday work," Mr Chick added."We are absolutely struggling to keep our heads above water."To then have this, I think it will be a tsunami of requests coming in."Each one will require a site visit and we'll have to look at the accident data. No small job, those two alone."Every single one will require a traffic order to be made."One of the areas under proposal for a 20mph zone is the A4135 in Dursley between Cedar Drive and Henlow resident Mike Softley, 72, said it wasn't needed as "people don't have time to get to 30mph" driving through Dursley. Green Party Councillor Dr Richard Dean, representing Dursley, said he is a "big supporter of the 20mph speed reductions".He said there had been 12 road incidents in Dursley since 2020 - five of them serious - but urged the council to include the area around Rednock School. "There are these hidden effects of traffic on mental health including sleeplessness, anxiety and depression which leads into physical illnesses, this should be taken into account when thinking about traffic regulations," he Dursley Town Council said it has "raised a number of concerns" over the proposals and could not support it in its current form. Ms Spivey said after the local elections in May 2025 that she wanted to consult with town and parish councils to find areas where 20mph limits were welcomed.
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Oxford's 20mph zones delayed until Botley Road reopens
Plans to introduce new 20mph speed limits in Oxford have been put on hold until a major road reopens. Oxfordshire County Council said a review of the scheme would take place after assessing the impact of upcoming traffic filters, which will fine drivers £70 for using selected city centre the trial has been delayed due to the ongoing closure of Botley Road, which has been shut since April 2023 as part of Network Rail's revamp of Oxford Railway 20mph rollout, replacing 30mph limits where supported by local councils, was backed by an £8m budget approved in February 2022. The scheme was originally due to be completed by the end of the 2024/25 financial year, but a review of Oxford's roads has yet to take of Tuesday's full council meeting, Labour councillor Brad Baines submitted a written question to Liberal Democrat transport cabinet member Andrew Gant, asking why Oxford still did not have "a comprehensive 20mph network". 'Deliberately deferred' Gant replied: "[The] traffic filters will be a trial scheme with various uncertainties, so we don't know exactly what its impact will be."We want to understand the impact of this and other schemes before assessing the need and implementing further 20mph limits in Oxford."And he told councillors at the meeting: "The short answer is Botley Road. It's on the list of the 20mph scheme and has been deliberately deferred until the Botley Road finishes."Bicester, parts of Banbury and Carterton are also awaiting a review of 20mph speed programme is part of the council's vision zero scheme that aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on roads. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
