SaveWedmoreLives is a growing group of Wedmore residents who work together to achieve a 20mph limit through the village.
This website presents the key reasons why a 20mph speed limit will benefit the village. We are seeking your views on the information we have gathered, but most importantly we are seeking your support. The more people that are rooting for the speed limit the quicker it will happen, so please fill in our ‘Join us’ form. If you can provide active support that is great, but if you just want to register your name as a supporter that is good too.
The position of Somerset Highways
Traffic Management in Somerset have written to us and said explicitly:
“Wedmore IS suitable for a 20mph speed limit and the decision on whether to proceed solely rests with the Parish Council.”
They have gone further and on 9 January provided a map to Wedmore Parish Council that outlines the extent of the 20mph zone should they wish to proceed. Here it is:
The position of Wedmore Parish Council
Wedmore Parish Council have written to us and the Isle of Wedmore News saying:
“The Council’s Highways Committee last considered a 20-mph speed limit at its meeting on 8 October 2025 and, based on data provided by Somerset Highways, resolved not to pursue a parish-wide 20 mph scheme at this time.”
What “data” when Somerset Highways have, we know, written to Wedmore Parish Council saying Wedmore IS suitable for a 20mph speed limit?
It gets worse!
You will have noticed those Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs) that flash up your speed as you pass. They can log the exact speed of every car that passes. Wedmore Parish Council has spent an estimated £10,000 on these (difficult to be precise as they don’t, of course, publish any detailed financial information). But they are virtually derelict. They are not being maintained and the all-important speed data is not being recorded. What a waste! The Parish Council says:
“The Council owns the equipment, but there is no approved programme for regular downloads, analysis, or external handling of SID data.”
So why is the Parish Council refusing to record the speeds of traffic using the expensive equipment they have bought, which would support the need for a 20mph speed limit that Somerset Highways say is suitable for Wedmore?
It’s your democratic right, as a parish resident, to tell the PC what you think about all of the above, and what you want them to do about it. Write to them at clerk@wedmore-pc.gov.uk and tell them what you think.
The key issues about a 20mph limit in Wedmore
Why people drive faster than the speed limit
Habitual speeders often overestimate their driving abilities. Only 10% of dangerous drivers act out of blatant disregard for safety; the remaining 90% rationalize their speeding with excuses such as not knowing the speed limit, following traffic flow, being in a hurry, or believing the speed limit is too low. Couriers frequently speed due to pressure to meet strict delivery schedules and fear of job loss. Drivers passing through villages tend to speed because they view the reduced speed limits as an inconvenience on their longer journeys.
Who will benefit from a 20mph limit
Recent research indicates that reducing speed limits to 20mph primarily benefits drivers by improving traffic flow and reducing journey times through decreased stop-and-go congestion. Studies from the UK and internationally confirm that lowering the speed limit from 30mph to 20mph enhances safety for all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. Additionally, a 20mph limit leads to measurable environmental improvements by significantly reducing vehicle emissions and encouraging more walking and cycling.
How to achieve 20mph
Speeding occurs in two locations:
- In the busy village centre, where limited road space is shared between pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, all accessing local services.
- At the four Village Gateways – where the speeding is most lethal (all the recent fatal and serious speed-related accidents on Wedmore roads have involved speeding drivers entering through a Village Gateway).
Exceptionally heavy volumes of through-traffic are using Wedmore as a ‘rat run’. The new speed control must be tailored to these two contrasting road systems.
Who can make this happen
Somerset Council Promises: “We are always ready to support communities who wish to fund … the introduction of speed limits where appropriate. In all cases the call for a 20mph… limit has come from local people, for very valid safety reasons. We’re really pleased to be able to support this.” ( since then they have signed up 15 Somerset villages for 20mph limits).
Since 2003, Wedmore residents have been ‘calling for’ this via three separate quantified surveys!
Links to other resources
Wales 20mph Independent analysis of vehicle speeds is a compelling report by the consultants Agilysis
20’s Plenty for Us run a national campaign and have lots of information
RoSPA have an excellent publication: “A Guide to 20mph zones and limits”
Green Wedmore support our campaign
Share your experiences
SaveWedmoreLives is compiling a database of local people’s experiences of ‘near misses’ on the parish roads. Below are some examples. Please share any similar events you know of.
- (2022) Elderly lady injured so badly in her car by a speeding motorist she was air-lifted by helicopter to Musgrove Park Hospital for the insertion of 15 metal pins in her leg and two months of major operations. She has yet fully to recover.
- (2024) Elderly lady lost her balance without warning and fell in the middle of Cheddar Road. Had there been a vehicle travelling at 30mph, or more, less than 29 metres away, she would have been killed.
- (2023) Two small children ran into Church Street from between two cars parked outside the Paper Shop. At this location the oncoming traffic was already slowing for the junction with The Borough, so they were spared.
- (2025) A School bus, packed with children, hurtled at high speed towards the Cheddar Road blind bend opposite Wedmore Village Hall. Instead of braking to negotiate the bend, the driver accelerated whilst sounding his horn loudly and rhythmically, so as to warn any unseen pedestrians crossing the road around the bend that he would be appearing suddenly and at speed.