Lighter Evenings
Support the light campaign to save 100 lives on British roads.
RoSPA is urging people to make the Government see the light over the way Britain changes its clocks in a bid to save 450 deaths and serious injuries on the roads each year. We recently posed the question: Do you support RoSPA’s call for Lighter Evenings?
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Every Autumn when the clocks go back, deaths and injuries on the road increase, especially for the most vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists and children. Last year, deaths and serious injuries among pedestrians rose from 609 in October to 738 in November, after the clocks had changed –including a jump in the number of children being seriously hurt or killed from 165 to 186. The accident rate for all road users also showed a big increase with the number of people killed on the roads going up from 287 to 319.
RoSPA wants the UK clocks to stay one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time in the winter and two hours ahead in the summer. In essence, this change would mean moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening so that it would not go dark so early in the winter. The clocks would still go back and forward.
This would lead to around 450 fewer deaths and serious injuries, including between 104 and 138 fewer deaths. This would also include 41 fewer deaths and serious injuries in Scotland.
The extra evening daylight would also increase opportunities for outdoor activity, helping to promote fitness and health and tackle our growing obesity problem. It would save energy and fuel costs, and so reduce the UK’s energy consumption and emissions. The commerce, sports, leisure and tourism sectors of the economy would also benefit.
Government Ministers have accepted the road safety arguments for a change, but they remain unconvinced that there is enough public support for a new system.
We need people to demonstrate that they do think it is a good idea and back our call for a three-year time trial which would prove the benefits.
For more information see:
British Summertime Factsheet
British Summertime Policy Paper (
PDF format 315kb)
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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