Why are dark evenings more dangerous?

[ufkacbln]

There was a debate on the TV about daylight saving and "double summer time"

It is claimed that the lighter evenings reduce accidents

RoSPA suggest this would reduce the number of accidents over this period as a result of the lighter evenings, as was demonstrated when the British Standard Time scheme was trialled between 27 October 1968 and 31 October 1971, when Britain remained on GMT+1 all year.[3] Analysis of accident data during the experiment indicated that while there had been an increase in casualties in the morning, there had been a substantially greater decrease in casualties in the evening, with a total of around 2,500 fewer people killed and seriously injured during the first two winters of the experiment. RoSPA have called for the two year trial to be repeated with modern evaluation methods. The proposal is opposed by farmers and other outdoor workers, and many residents of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as it would mean that, in northern Britain and Northern Ireland, the winter sunrise would not occur until 10:00 or even later.

I wondered about this concept and why dark mornings are safer?

A majority of rush hour drivers will be the same in each rush hour, yet the accidents don't happen on a dark morning

Should we be looking at why the accidents are occurring in the evening and not the morning as it would be logical that if the darkness was to the sole contributing factor, then the accidents should simply transfer to the morning rush?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

could be as simple as, cyclists are more alert in the mornings? or motons are more stressed and in a rush to get home in the evenings.

 

[gouldina]

could be as simple as, cyclists are more alert in the mornings? or motons are more stressed and in a rush to get home in the evenings.

The data is more about cars/peds than cyclists I would guess.

 

[Bromptonaut]

The data probably goes back to the last experiment in 1969-71. Kids go straight to school on a dark morning. On a dark evening they're messing about, going sweet shop etc and are therefore more exposed to risk.

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

I must admit of all the motorist abuse, its mostly in the evenings and more darker. Also when coming home the traffic seems much more concentrated around 5 -6 where as going to work, seems more staggered as more people go at much different times.

That is one thing I have definitely noted after 5,000 miles commuting since last June