Renewed call to make the most of daylight hours and help save lives

Time to change: Brake renews call to make the most of daylight hours and help save lives

As the clocks go forward this Sunday, Brake, the road safety charity, is renewing calls for government to make roads safer by putting the clocks forward by an hour all year-round. This would mean making the most of available daylight, with lighter afternoons and evenings in the winter months, reducing danger to pedestrians and cyclists.

Moving the clocks to GMT+1 in winter and GMT+2 in summer would save an estimated 80 lives a year and prevent hundreds of serious injuries on the roads, preventing needless suffering and saving the NHS around £138 million a year in the process.

Safer, lighter evenings would also encourage more recreational walking and cycling. Combined with Brake's GO 20 campaign for 20mph limits in cities, towns and villages, this would mean a powerful boost for healthy, active lifestyles. By slowing down to 20mph in built up areas, night and day, drivers can make a personal contribution to making roads safer for those on foot and bike.

In 2012, despite widespread support from the Lighter Later coalition, MPs, and letters from 26,300 members of the public, a Daylight Saving Bill which would have compelled the government to review and act on the evidence for changing the clocks, ran out of time. Now Brake is renewing its calls for government to make this common sense change.