As millions of motorists get ready to enjoy a brighter drive home from work, one safety body has launched a campaign to make British Summer Time a permanent feature on the clock face.
Along with easier commutes for drivers, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) claims a permanent switch to lighter evenings would slash the number of people killed or seriously injured on the UK’s roads.
Single/Double Summer Time save lives
Research from the Department for Transport revealed that around 80 deaths and 200 serious injuries could be avoided if the UK changed to Single/Double Summer time (SDST). This is GMT+1 hour in winter and GMT+2 in summer.
Benefits of more daylight
- It’s not just lives that switching to SDST can save – here are some more benefits…
- Cutting CO2 emissions by 447,000 tonnes a year by reducing electric lighting in the evenings
- Providing a £3.5bn boost to British leisure and tourism, creating up to 80,000 new jobs
- Addressing levels of obesity by allowing for more outdoor sport in the evenings
- Relieving symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and similar conditions
- Reducing crime and the fear of crime (especially among the elderly)
Tell us what you think
Despite an attempt to get SDST pushed through Parliament in 2012, the Bill’s progress was thwarted by just 10 MPs. Do you agree with the switch or should we keep those dark British winter nights as they are?
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