Clocks back, road crashes rise

Putting the clocks around your house back an hour is one chore for this weekend, as we shift into winter time, writes Brian Byrne. But the change can also seriously impact road safety.

According to UK research — and there's no reason to think it's different here — road crashes rise by 11 per cent in the two weeks after the transition from summer time. They can spike five times that rate and more between 5pm and 6pm.

An Garda Síochána reminds all road users to ‘Be Safe, Be Seen’. If your car doesn't have daylight running lights, use dipped headlights during these gloomier and wetter-weather days. Slow down and stay further back in traffic.

Pedestrians and cyclists should wear high-visibility clothing. Of the 138 road fatalities so far this year, 29 were pedestrians. More than one-third of serious injuries to pedestrians occur between October and December. 

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