November 3rd, 2009
British Summer Time is Greener
If you were out and about in Dorset on Thursday 29 October 2009 there is a high probability that you were seriously delayed by at least one road traffic accident. This situation probably applies to numerous places all over the UK. Why? Because of the end of British Summer time and the return to Greenwich Meantime.
You may get an extra hour in bed on the last Sunday of October, but this time of year is notorious for an increase in car crashes, disturbed sleep patterns and Seasonal Affective Disorder.
There is nothing we can do about the shorter days and reduction in daylight hours, but we could consider abandoning the end of BST and leave afternoons and evenings lighter, then next spring add another hour onto BST. This idea is not new and Double BST was trialled from 1968 to 1971 – the reduction in evening road accidents was significant (2,500 fewer recorded deaths and serious injuries in the first 2 winters of the experiment) but the darker mornings were met with hostility from farmers, builders and postmen so it was eventually abandoned
However, in addition to safer roads and less depression the greener advantages of sticking to BST are that we would be in line with the rest of Europe and according to a study by Cambridge University we would also save energy by burning less fuel in the lighter evenings and so cut 170,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions!