The idea of introducing 20mph speed limits on residential streets may be new to the Isle of Man, but over in Wales, it’s already been the law for more than a year.

In this opinion piece, Mick O’Reilly - editor of the Welsh weekly Cambrian News - shares his insights on how the changes have played out, and what lessons the island might learn from their experience.

So, Port St Mary is your St Dogmaels. Huh?

Gimme a minute and lemme explain.

Chances are that unless your Mastermind specialist subject is the rural coastal villages of west Wales, you’ll have never heard of the place.

But it exists. And what it’s known for, you Mastermind whizzes smugly would answer, is being one of several small communities where the 20mph speed limits were rolled out across Wales a year before they were forced on the country.

Forced? Yep, only too right.

There was a plan from the Welsh Government, a commitment to have safer roads and, before you know it and £32million later, every residential area in the country had the new limits imposed upon us.

When the pilot project rolled out in St Dogmaels, it was divisive.

‘It’ll give the streets back to the community,’ one resident told our intrepid reporter who made his way down to the backwater just south of Cardigan.

Another complained that the new 20mph would make it difficult to maintain momentum in cars when you’re driving up the steep hills in the village. And police?

Well they made a killing in one week alone, dishing out more than 30 fines for speeding in a two-day period.

For most Welsh people, now that we’ve been living with a blanket 20mph since September 2023, there was a feeling that would all be just a cash grab.

Out of a population of about 3.2 million, more than 500,000 have signed a petition in the Senedd – the Welsh Government – calling for the blanket limit to be rescinded.

Officially, the Government says it’s under review.

And officially, statistics show that 100 lives have been saved by the introduction of the 20mph limit.

The reality is that we’ve had no choice but to slow down over these past 18 months or so. Sort of.

According to police, you won’t be done unless you’re going more than 26mph.

That’s a calculation arrived at by taking 20mph, adding 10 per cent, and then four more mph.

But no one gets done for 26mph generally.

As I write this, I’m in Bow Street, a village strung out over a mile on the A487 just north of Aberystwyth.

The school zone used to be 20mph and people respected that.

Now the entire stretch of Bow Street – some wags nicknamed it ‘Slow Street’ when the new limit came in – is 20.

And slow it isn’t. Because every community in Wales is 20mph, there simply isn’t enough resources when it comes to enforcement.

No police. No speed cameras. No consequence.

Now, the big tractors and their muck spreaders are zooming down the road, well in excess of 20mph. Then it’ll be silage season and hay. And the speed limit will be ignored until there’s blanket enforcement.

This thing is here to stay. That’s good for the 100 people who are alive now because of it. And their families.

I wonder how many of them signed that petition?