Today, Wales emerges from our fire breaker lockdown. Over the last few weeks non-essential shops have been closed, we’ve stayed at home and only travelled for essential reasons. Everyone has continued to play their part in the fight against Covid.

GoSafe continued with our work of keeping Welsh roads safe throughout the period of lockdown and our Casualty Reduction Officers attended enforcement sites across Wales.

The Welsh Government are reporting 50% less traffic on the road network last week when compared with the same week in 2019. But even with the reduced traffic volume and the majority of road users complying with the speed limits, we unfortunately recorded some very high speeds including:

• 106mph in a 70mph limit on the M4
• 101mph in a 70mph limit on the A55, Rhuallt Hill
• 74mph in a 30mph limit on Hendre Road, Llangennech.

These motorists put themselves and others at serious risk of collision and injury, at a time where we must all look out for one another and help protect the NHS and save lives.

Speeding is a choice, and we all need to make the safe choice and drive to the speed limit.

At the start of the fire breaker, our Community Speed Watch volunteers stopped all monitoring activities to comply with Welsh Government rules, but with restrictions now lifting our passionate volunteers will resume their activities in a socially distant compliant manner.

With the new rules and guidance from the Welsh Government coming into force today, we will likely see an increase in the volume of traffic on our roads as two households can bubble once again and with the announcement that there are no travel restrictions within Wales.

These freedoms, however, are not an invitation for unnecessary travel or reckless and careless behaviour on our roads. We still need to work together and by driving to the speed limit, not using our mobile phones and wearing our seatbelts we will be contributing to the safety of our roads and in protecting our NHS.

If you do travel to visit your family or friends, to go shopping or for a day out in Wales, be aware of your surroundings and remember that the speed limits have not change. You will see our enforcement vans in the right place, at the right time for the right reason in locations across Wales, encouraging compliance and keeping the roads safe for everyone.