Let there be light

By moving the clock forward to GMT+1 in the winter and GMT+2 in the summer, the SDST system would result in increased evening light all year round, bringing a shift in average sunset time year round from 6.35pm to 7.30pm. This would give an average gain of 55 minutes of accessible evening daylight every day of the year.
This isn’t just a flight of fancy. As a consequence of the current system (GMT from October to March and GMT+1 during British Summer Time) the number of people killed and injured on the road rises considerably during the darker evenings in the autumn and winter.

In 2015 deaths rose from 27 in September to 42 in October, 45 in November and 58 in December. The casualty rate for all road users increased from 573 per billion vehicle miles in October to 619 per billion vehicle miles in November, before falling back slightly to 614 in December.

Recent research estimates that adopting SDST would have the net effect of saving around 80 lives and 212 serious injuries a year.

It wouldn’t be the first time that alternate UK times had been adopted. An experiment between 1968 and 1971 saw British Standard Time (GMT + 1) employed all year round (the clocks were advanced in March 1968 and not put back until October 1971). Around 2500 deaths and serious injuries were prevented each year of the trial period.

Indeed in 2009, the Department for Transport confirmed that moving to lighter evenings would prevent about 80 deaths on the road a year. It asserted that there would be a one-off cost of about £5million to publicise the change, but then benefits of around £138m per year, as well as energy savings, business benefits and more opportunities for sport and leisure.

RoSPA’s arguments for adopting the new system are compelling. More evening daylight would encourage outdoor activity, making outdoor leisure activities possible in the evening during two more months of the year – people spend about 60% more time watching TV in winter than in summer. It adds that SDST would bring an average increase of 28% more accessible daylight during waking hours, maximising the beneficial effect of natural light – summer sunlight is our primary source of vitamin D. Because of this, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and sub-clinical depression, suffered by 500,000 people in the UK, would be reduced by this extra hour of accessible daylight.

Extra daylight hours for leisure activity would help fight increasing obesity in UK society, particularly among the young.
RoSPA recommends that lighter evenings be introduced on a trial basis for two to three years, after which the decision about continuing permanently would be based on the consequent effects on road casualties.

In an era where internet campaigns and social media can have an unprecedented impact on Government decisions - for example Brexit - I believe this system would have a positive effect on the health & safety of the British public. Let me know your thoughts!