Ejercicio Texto 2 - Pregunta 1 · Inglés PAU Extremadura Ordinaria 2025

Text 2: Wales's 20mph speed limit: Why has it become a culture-war battlefield?

Imagine you're a politician running a country. In front of you there is a proposal that in just nine months would save your society more than £45m, prevent almost 500 people being killed or injured, make your residential areas more appealing places to live in and reduce car insurance costs by an average of £50. It is also backed by multiple scientific studies and it has the universal support of all emergency services in your nation.

Yet this is exactly what happened in Wales and it became the single most unpopular and controversial piece of lawmaking in the history of their Senedd (parliament).

In September 2023 the Welsh government introduced the default 20mph ( miles per hour) speed limit, changing every road in Wales that had a 30mph limit to 20mph. Essentially, almost everywhere people now had slower speed limits. The evidence that this would save lives was unequivocal and overwhelming.

The response from some to the policy was unrestrained fury. A petition on the Senedd website opposing the new measures has reached nearly 470,000 signatures (in a nation of just over 3 million people). Protests sprang up citing the cost of the policy (£32m, mostly on changing the road signs and markings). Some of them were somewhat counterintuitive – many of the 20mph signs were vandalised, meaning they had to be replaced at additional cost.

However, a year on from the scheme's introduction we can see pretty strong evidence that the 20mph limit is very effective in saving lives and preventing injuries. We now have the road collision data for the first three quarters since the policy was introduced and the figures are pretty clear. Compared with the same period the year before, the number of people killed on the affected roads is down 35%, serious injuries are down 14.2% and slight injuries 31%.

The experience in Wales is a lesson for the wider UK and beyond. Evidence-based policy does work. In a world where facts and evidence matter less and less, it is all the more vital that we stand by that evidence to take nations forward (at an appropriate speed).

Source: The Guardian (adapted). November 2024.

1. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)? Quote the fragment from the text that justifies your answer. Marks: 2 points (0.5 points per correct answer).

A.

Car insurance is now more expensive because of the new law.

True

False

B.

Everybody was on board with the new speed limit.

True

False

C.

A third of Welsh citizens have signed the petition against the new measures.

True

False

D.

The writer suggests that these measures should be implemented by other countries.

True

False