20-mile limit in Wales: Lee Waters admits more common sense is needed

Waters also spoke of resistance to this policy and admitted that it was “larger and longer lasting than expected.”

“I don’t think we have prepared the ground sufficiently and that people have not anticipated what a big change this will be,” he said, adding that it may “take a while” for people to accept the policy.

“It took a long time for people to get used to seat belts, it took a long time for people to get used to the [a ban on] Smoking in public places – but we have not backed down on any of these measures and I don’t think we will back down on that.”

Waters also said the government “should have done a lot more to make people aware of what a big change this is and the impact it has on their communities.”

He added that he was confident that “the data and evidence show that this will save lives and that the situation will calm down over time.”

The Welsh Government said the number of accidents on local roads had “decreased significantly”.

“We will continue to monitor the long-term trend, but things are moving in the right direction.”

The company added that it recognised that on some roads the speed limit should be reset to 30 mph and that “this will happen as a result of our review”.