Motorists need to drive more carefully during the week following when the clocks go forward in spring, warns the Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors (IEHF).
Many of us focus on having to get up an hour earlier but it should be the least of our concerns because research shows that there is a sharp increase in the number of fatalities during certain hours of the week that follows a DST (Daylight Saving Time) transition.
It appears that our body clocks and reactions are not given enough time to adapt to the sudden change in environmental conditions, where the natural shift of sunrise and sunset is boosted by an additional hour in local timing. This safety issue was discovered inadvertently as the initial research, which involved a survey of 3000 drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in the UK, was looking at the impact of switching off road lighting at night.
The survey suggested a series of possible changes in behaviour as contributing factors to the increased rate of serious and fatal accidents, with pedestrians being the usual victims. These findings have been backed up by the results of an extensive US study examining fatality rate across 48 States. And the IEHF believes there is scope for more research in this area.
Dr Nick Gkikas of Autonomics, the lead researcher, commented: “We were initially quite sceptical about this. At the beginning of the winter, a major windscreen supplier requested a report on the possible impact of the emerging trend for County Councils to switch off road lighting at night time. Whilst looking for previous evidence on the subject, we came across some studies using DST transitions as a way of seeing how people reacted to changing light conditions.
“Approaching the data from another angle, it became apparent that the numbers spiked on certain hours during the week following a DST transition. The phenomenon was noticed both in the winter as well as in the spring DST. The survey pointed out specific behaviours that might contribute to those trends. Nonetheless, we’d like to have additional support and work with up-to-date UK accident data on the matter, especially since the issue seems to be aligned with studies examining the environmental impact of DST, and the fact that it would make more sense having extra light at the end of the day when we are active rather than early morning when most of us are asleep.”.
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