RoSPA has welcomed reports that Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are considering a system to give the UK lighter evenings.
The Society says that comments made by the political parties over the weekend prove that the road safety, environmental and economic benefits of a move to Single Double Summer Time (SDST) have been accepted at the highest level.
Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, said: “RoSPA has called for around 60 years for a change to how the UK uses its hours of daylight. A move to SDST would prevent needless road deaths and injuries across the country.
“We are thrilled that, after many decades, this issue is finally coming off the shelf and the parties are working together to achieve consensus.
“There is so much for the UK to gain from this move and we hope the political parties will take the crucial step of including it in their manifestos.
“There is a real opportunity for our leaders in the next Parliament to make an easy decision that would make us healthier, safer, greener and wealthier.”
SDST would put the clocks one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in winter and two hours ahead of GMT in summer. The most recent research has found that a move to SDST could reduce road deaths by around 80 per year and serious injuries by around 212 per year.
Click here to read the full RoSPA news release.
Click here to support RoSPA’s campaign for the introduction of SDST.
This is a long-standing area of debate that could quite easily be trialled to measure it’s effectiveness as a casualty reduction measure over a 3 year period. In the current financial climate it could also bring about economical as well as environmental savings.
David, Northampton
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