Birmingham-based safety body backs call for lighter nights

Oct 27 2010 by Nick McCarthy, Birmingham Mail

THE Birmingham-based Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has thrown its weight behind a campaign to stop the clocks going back.

The start of Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday will mean the loss of an hour’s daylight in the late afternoon and early evening.

But RoSPA, which has its headquarters on Bristol Road, backed an MP’s call to maintain British Summer Time throughout the winter to protect children walking home from school, cyclists and motorcyclists.

Research suggested the move would cut road deaths by around 80 per year and could lead to 212 fewer serious injuries.

RoSPA chief executive Tom Mullarkey said: “More pedestrians are killed and injured in the afternoon and early evening than in the morning.