RoSPA is urging drivers to keep an eye out for vulnerable road users and to watch their speed as the clocks go back on Sunday 27 October.
Cyclists and pedestrians are also being advised to ‘be seen and be safe’ as the end of British Summer Time approaches.
RoSPA recommends that cyclists wear brightly-coloured or fluorescent clothing in daylight and reflective clothing or accessories in the dark. Pedestrians, including joggers, are being reminded that it is hard for motorists to see them if they are wearing dark clothing.
RoSPA has campaigned for decades for lighter evenings, on the grounds that more daylight on autumn/winter evenings would save lives. It points to DfT research which shows that around road 80 deaths and at least 200 serious injuries would be prevented each year if the UK switched to Single/Double Summer Time.
The charity backed Rebecca Harris MP’s Daylight Savings Bill, which was defeated at the final stage in January 2012. And it is keen to stress that, although activities have been scaled back until after the Scotland independence referendum next September, the fight for more evening light is far from over.
Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA’s chief executive said: “Although road deaths on the whole are going down, it is a huge concern to see a rise in the number of cyclists killed on our roads, especially children.
“We urge drivers to take extra care and vulnerable road users to be seen and be safe.
“But we also argue that an extra hour of evening daylight could help to save lives and reduce injuries during the colder, darker months. And that is why we will continue to push for Parliament to look again at supporting a move to Single/Double Summer Time.”
For more information contact Charlotte Hester/Alison Brinkworth on 0121 248 2135/2134.
I wish someone would tackle the issue of street lights being switched off on our motorway networks. Driving without lights means more fatigue for the drivers, driving long distances for their job. Sometimes you cannot even see the lane markings due to us not even having cats eyes or other L.e.d to help. Someone invented cats eyes for a reason, now we don’t even seem to have them on most roads. Governments should not compromise safety over money, because that is what it comes down to.
Jenny, Ramsbottom, Lancs
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Day glo and reflective patches or stripes are only useful in direct illumination of headlights. In most circumstances at night, particularly in the wet, they will not make the slightest difference.
Low sun has to be taken into account especially at times in the afternoon late in the year when schools are out and children are going home, or a little later when workers are journeying home – and in both case there are increases in incidents, collisions and injuries.
Motorcyclists have been wearing day glo and driving with headlights on during the day and night for nearly 4 decades now and it doesn’t appear to have had a monumental effect on the reduction of collisions or the injuries they have suffered.
bob craven Lancs
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I agree with RoSPA’s campaign. However, Rebecca Harris’s Private Member’s Bill was “talked out” by some of our elected members of Parliament. What a missed opportunity!
Allan, Leicester
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