Whatcar.com readers back BST

01 November 2005

95% of readers want to keep clocks on BST
RoSPA: Changing the clocks increases accidents
DTI has no plans to change current system

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Whatcar.com readers have backed calls from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to keep UK clocks on British summertime.

Following the weekend when the clocks went back an hour, 95% of whatcar.com readers want this practise to stop and to keep British summertime.

Traditionally, there is an increase in fatalities on UK roads in the winter months, and RoSPA believes shorter evenings are partly to blame.

Commenting on the whatcar.com poll, a RoSPA spokesman said: 'The survey is excellent news. We believe there is strong support throughout the country for our proposal.’

However, not everyone is in favour of changing the current system. For example, the Scottish National Party says the number of accidents on Scotland's roads would increase if the UK kept British summertime.

SNP education spokeswoman Fiona Hyslop said: ‘Several studies have shown that while there may be a decrease in the number of accidents south of the border, the reverse is the case in Scotland where additional casualties are likely to be children on their way to school.’

The Department for Trade and Industry said it had no plans to move the UK onto Central European Time.

Read a selection of whatcar.com readers' opinions for and against RoSPA's proposal.

Longer evenings

‘It is the most ridiculous situation; costing lives and a general feeling of wellbeing. Let’s stop the changeover: it’s archaic.’
Martyn Russell

‘Keep British summertime all year round. Evenings would be longer and there would be a massive reduction in crime. I have massive difficulty in adjusting my body clock every time the clocks change. I feel like I have just returned from a holiday.’
Neil Dutt

‘I support summertime all year round because:
a) Lighter evenings are likely to be safer, as your article shows.
b) Days getting dark early is depressing. Getting up in the dark is no problem - we'll all be doing it soon anyway, as we get into November.
c) It wastes a lot of time re-setting all the timing devices around the house and car twice every year.
d) Farmers used to have to get up early to milk their cows in time for doorstep deliveries. There are now few farmers in the UK in comparison with 50 years ago and most milk goes to supermarkets not doorsteps. Even deliveries tend not to be before breakfast anyway.’
Spencer Chapman

‘I have always said that the clocks should be left alone at the start of winter and then put on to 'Double Summertime' in the spring. It worked so well during the war, so why not do the same again now?’
Reggie Staffordsmith

We are in Europe so we should join Central European Time. For business and pleasure more free daylight hours would be great.’
Joe Windall

‘I think we should have longer evenings. It’s more in keeping with nature, with the natural fluctuation of daylight in the seasons. It would make me feel more connected to nature and the rhythm of the seasons. We shouldn't keep moving the clock back and forth. It’s just silly.’
William Sidoli

‘I am in favour of retaining BST through the winter for the reasons given in your report, but I do not favour Double Summertime for the summer months. It is not necessary for any practical reason, and will only lead to more problems of unruliness and bad behaviour which we already anticipate will be exacerbated by 24-hour drinking.’
John Murthwaite

Stay the same

‘Oh, this old chestnut again! I can remember the experiment in the late 1960s, when we had dark mornings. I went to school in the dark and came home in the light… but it would still have been light in the late afternoon under GMT times.
The Labour Government of the day was so worried about children's safety in the dark mornings that we were all issued with reflective arm bands. This was in Birmingham - I shudder to think how late in the morning the sun would rise in Scotland under RoSPA's crazy idea. If it ain't broke…’
Richard David-Foster

‘There was a trial in the late 60s or early 70s when, for one winter, the clocks were not altered and it remained dark until about 10 o'clock in the morning. The reason given for not continuing with the trial was road safety and particularly risks to children going to school. What's changed?’
Bernard Hyde

‘I live in Brussels where we are already suffering the regime that is proposed for the UK. Here it is still dark until 08:30 and, although the clocks going back improves matters, this respite will be shortlived as sunrise becomes later and later. How we envy you in the UK getting up in the light at 07:30!

Has it occurred to proponents of the change in the UK that the reason why DfT figures suggest that ‘children and the elderly are more at risk during darker evenings than the morning’ is that up until now the UK has benefited from light mornings?

Wait until this situation has changed before drawing any final conclusion. Have any studies been done on accident statistics on the continent where mornings are darker than evenings at this time of year?
Iain Forsyth