Daylight Saving and Safety

28 October 2011

The clocks go back an hour this weekend which heralds the annual debate for double British Summertime which we get every year. Research shows that changing the system could save up to 80 lives each year on Britain’s roads.

For decades, RoSPA has been at the forefront of a crusade to give the UK an extra hour of evening daylight - citing research that shows lighter nights would save 80 lives and prevent more than 200 serious injuries on our roads each year.

Apart from the avoidance of grief and suffering, fewer road accidents would also bring considerable annual savings to taxpayers.

RoSPA believes that the clock change campaign is closer to succeeding now than at any time since 1970, thanks to Rebecca Harris MP’s Private Members’ Bill - which passed its second reading in Parliament in Decemberlast year  with a huge majority.
 

An IAM poll of more than 2000 motorists last winter found that 65 per cent would support a double summertime system – moving the clocks forward by one hour throughout the entire year, while still putting the clocks forward in spring and back in autumn.

There are 17 per cent more pedestrian road casualties in November than the monthly average. This sharp increase is likely to be partly attributed to the winter clock change.

There is also an increase in the number of motorcycle collisions in November – 41.8 per cent higher than the normal monthly average and 73 per cent higher than in February. Numbers of casualties stay relatively constant but the rate per billion miles dramatically increases in autumn.