2. Will the First Minister set out the Welsh Government's strategy to improve road safety? OAQ52793

The road safety framework for Wales sets out the actions we and our partners are currently taking to improve road safety in Wales. We are making good progress to achieve the targets set out in the framework and to ensure that all our roads and streets are safe and accessible for all. 

Nonetheless, First Minister, there are still far too many deaths and injuries on our roads, and one important response, which is developing at pace internationally and within the UK, is to increase the amount of 20 mph maximum speed limits in inner urban areas. This makes it easier to avoid accidents, reduces the injury if an accident occurs and allows the streets to be reclaimed from the motor car, which very often is king in our communities at the moment. If we want more children playing, more elderly people feeling at ease in walking around their communities, more walking and cycling with the health and environmental benefits that they bring, then I believe we need to roll out these 20 mph maximum speed limit areas in Wales. One way of doing that would be to have a Wales-wide default 20 mph limit in our inner urban areas, which would allow local authorities then to take forward traffic orders for 30 mph when it was appropriate, in effect reversing the current position, making it easier and less costly for local authorities to have these areas in place, which are so important to community life. First Minister, would you support such a policy to allow communities to reclaim their streets?  

Could I give the Member for Newport East an indication of where we are with 20 mph speed limits? We are working closely with Public Health Wales to review the evidence available as to the benefits of introducing 20 mph speed limits. That will then inform whether we require a refreshment to the current road safety framework. A comprehensive review of speed limits near schools on or near trunk roads has been carried out. There is a multi-year programme to introduce part-time 20 mph limits in those locations. Funding has been provided for local authorities to implement 20 mph zones and limits through the road safety and Safe Routes in Communities grants, and I can also inform him that Dr Adrian Davies has been commissioned to carry out an evidence review on 20 mph limits, which will then be used to inform any future policy development alongside our work with Public Health Wales. So, a great deal of work is being done. We await now, of course, the results of that work. 

First Minister, a few weeks ago, during the business statement, I raised the case of a driver in Newport who defied his optician's advice to stay off the road due to his poor eyesight. He was subsequently the cause of a fatal road accident on the M4. At the moment, it is the responsibility of the driver to advise the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency that they are no longer able to drive. Can I ask the First Minister to look into this issue, with a view to making it mandatory for opticians in Wales to advise the DVLA when a driver's eyesight has deteriorated to such an extent that they are a danger to themselves and other motorists on the road in Wales, please? 

Firstly, the issue isn't devolved. Secondly, I suspect there are some quite serious data protection issues that would need to be overcome if optometrists were told they had to report somebody if their eyesight was not sufficient to enable them to drive. It is the responsibility of an individual to make sure that they are fit to drive. It's the same with their eyesight. It's the same, of course, if somebody has an illness that affects their driving—they are obliged to inform the DVLA. Their insurance might be voided as a result and, of course, they will face charges if they cause an accident in certain circumstances. So, while I understand the need to ensure that people have sufficient eyesight to be able to drive, I think it is a matter of personal responsibility, and not a matter anyway, of course, that's devolved to this Assembly.