It has been proposed that the United Kingdom should adopt `Double British Summer Time' (DBST) (also known as `Single/Double Summer Time'). Under this system, sunrise and sunset would occur one hour later than at present, except during four weeks in october. This report considers the likely effect on road accidents in Great Britain. It concludes on the basis of casualty data from 1987 that there would be significantly fewer casualties. The number of people killed or seriously injured would fall by about 810 (1.2 per cent of the national total) and the number injured at any severity would fall by about 2050 (0.7 per cent). These results come from a study of what might have occurred in 1987 if DBST had been in force. They are supported by a study of what actually happened in 1969-71, when British Summer Time was experimentally retained during the winter. (A)
Abstract