There is a lot of research about the safety benefits of lighter nights. The research shows road casualty rates increase with the arrival of darker evenings. When the clocks go back in the autumn and sunset occurs earlier in the day, road casualties rise. The effects are worse for the most vulnerable road users like children, the elderly and cyclists.
One study showed the casualty rate for all road users increased from 546 per billion vehicle miles in October 2016 to 602 per billion vehicle miles in November 2016. Another study found an 11% reduction in road casualties in England and Wales during the lighter nights period and a 17% reduction in Scotland.
In 2009, the Department for Transport's consultation paper "A Safer Way: Making Britain's Roads the Safest in the World" said a move to lighter evenings would prevent about 80 deaths on the road a year.
Given these road safety benefits, there have, over the years, been many calls for a permanent ‘clock’ change. The charity RoSPA is a major advocate for change. The proposed change is known as ‘Single/Double British Summertime (SDST)’, which means adopting GMT+1 hour during the winter period and GMT+2 hours during the summer period. Yes, we would still have to remember to change the clocks and recite “spring forward/fall back” to be sure we had the new time correct.
Studies have also identified a wide variety of benefits beyond road safety: cut carbon emissions by 450,000 tonnes each year (the equivalent to 85% of all the power generated by wind, wave and solar renewable energy in England); reduce CO2 pollution by at least 447,000 tonnes each year; savings of £260m a year on electricity bills (based on1990s figures); boost overall tourism earnings by an estimated £3bn; increase jobs by 60,000 to 80,000 to cater for increased tourism; save the NHS £200m a year in accident related costs; reduce crime by 3%; increase exercise levels and improve health to name a few.
All this in addition to reducing the number of people killed and injured on our roads. A large part of my work is with people who have been seriously injured when knocked over crossing the road. Many of my clients are children on their way to and from school or playing with friends near home. I also work with many cyclists who have been injured when knocked off their bike. Evening darkness – or even late afternoon darkness during the depths of the winter – is often a factor.
There are of course pros and cons to changing to SDST, and various groups have different views and valid concerns (for example Cycling UK raises the issue of the potential for greater exposure to icy conditions on winter mornings), but the potential to make people safer on the road is hugely important.
For more information regarding our work with people injured on our roads, please contact Ann Houghton who will be happy to speak to you on an initial free, no-obligation basis.
Volunteers are often the bedrock of charitable organisations, but they are not protected from sexual harassment within those organisations.
Here at Anthony Collins Solicitors, we have been hard at work advising a charity client, BICMP, on its new music project, ‘Resonance’.
Currently, the only ground for divorce is irretrievable break down of a marriage. Following a consultation, the Government has announced its intention to reform the legal requirements for divorce.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently made some noteworthy changes to its guidance around data subject access requests (DSARs).
In the fourth part of our series on contract management pitfalls, we look at the risks arising out of varying the terms of construction contracts.
A local authority recently received a "roasting" by the Pensions Ombudsman for their delay in processing an employee’s ill-health retirement pension, following her diagnosis with advanced cancer.
The Times is looking for three or four charities to feature in their editions running in December 2019 and early January 2020.
Cliff Mills defines and talks about the importance of social value in his blog, and its potential within Greater Manchester.
Following a power outage at Anthony Collins Solicitors’ (ACS) Birmingham office, our employees and partners currently have limited functionality, including no access to emails.
Joint ventures present an opportunity for housing associations to build organisational capacity, the revenues from which could help deliver on wider social housing commitments.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.