[AnthonyS]

The Lighter Later campaign wants the UK to swap from being on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the winter and GMT+1 in the summer to GMT+1 in the winter and GMT+2 in spring and summer.

It is estimated that this could potentially save 100+ lives on the nations roads per year.

To read the full story go to:

http://www.rac.co.uk/news-advice/mot...-clock-change/

Do you think this is a good idea? Do you think the number of road accidents will decrease as a result? How easy will it be for people to accept this change?

[Rolebama]

I think the Lighter Later campagners have got it wrong. I thought the point was to try to give school kids a bit more light in the morning when they are more at risk. The afternoons aren't so much of a problem.

[Sofa Spud]

I think this idea is absolutely crazy. We tried it before between 1968 and 1971 when we were on British Standard Time. I remember getting up in the morning and going to school in the dark. In December and January it was still twilight during the first lesson of the day. It was horrible and depressing. Nobody liked it, which is why the experiment was stopped.

In the mornings people tend to be more bad-tempered because they don't want to be going to work and they might well be tired and hung over - probably more so than people would have been in 1968 because there wasn't a 24/7 leisure culture then. Dark mornings will lead to more accidents. At the moment most children are able to go to school and return home in daylight throughout the year. Why change that?

If this change is foisted on us, people will very quickly come to regret it. It's one of the stupidest suggestions I've heard for ages. Probably some schools would change their hours from 9:00 - 3:30 to 10:00 - 4:30 and workplaces will adjust their hours similarly, so everything would be back to square one anyway.

I repeat - we tried it before and everyone hated it!

[Darren_77]

I think we should just move GMT forward an hour and stick with that all year rather than setting the clocks.

[ficklejade]

AAARRRHHH! The Climate Change lobby gets their paws into everything!

And of course none of them would mind about children in the Highlands and Islands having to go to school in the dark - at the moment, our kids get gloom on the way and just about get home before dark and of course it's worse further north.

Like Sofa Spud, I remember having to go to school in the dark - we all loathed it.

Where do they get all the CO2 savings from? Not having to put the lights on earlier in the evening? Well the lights are going to put on in the morning instead! Ironically, we might have to put our lights on on spring/early summer mornings because of the time shift.

Isn't there something in the book, Whisky Galore, about God's time, Government time and daft time? The latter was double summer time that was brought in during WW2. Daft time sounds appropriate!

[smudger]

If I remember correctly, we tried not turning the clocks forward/back for a couple of years in the 70s.
Or have I got it wrong again, as I was out of the country for a few years back then?;)

[Rolebama]

I was in Germany for the period when the clocks weren't changed, and I still remember one of the stories in a national German newspaper. It inferred that the British had no interest in the well-being of their children as they were putting them in danger. I also remember the outcry at how many children were killed or injured because of the lack of lighting in the morning. Children going to school and rush-hour traffic just do not mix too well.

[ficklejade]

Whatever happens, some people are going to lose out. (I don't mean that callously, BTW, just it's a fact with the difference in latitude between the Shetlands and the Channel Islands.)

It would be disastrous for businesses for Scotland to have a different time zone, as has been suggested in the past.

Just as an exercise, I've worked out that, for December and early January, it wouldn't be daylight until 9.30am on GMT +1. On GMT, our daylight hours are roughly 8.30am to 4.15pm. This is only about 45 minutes difference from when I lived just north of Leeds. By the same token around the summer solstice (and assuming a clear night), it gets too dark to see at about midnight and gets light from about 3.30am. ON GMT +2 that means it would still be light up until 2.00am. Great if you're having a party; decidedly not great if you want the kids in bed and/or need to get up for work the next day! Actually, a lot of our visitors at that time of year think the long light evenings are great, until they want to sleep and are disconcerted by it being so light very early in the mornings. (We won't mention the dawn chorus!!)

[Andy2009]

I really do not understand why we continue messing with the clocks.

In Manchester light breaks at about 530 am in March. Gets dark about 6ish. In winter, it starts getting light about 730 and dark at 4ish.

The main problem that I see is feeling knackered in the morning in Spring due to the clocks going forward and tired in the evening in Winter due to staying up the extra hour.

I say we should leave the damned bloody clocks alone (preferably at GMT) and let us all keep in a pattern instead of having thsi twice yearly jolt to the system.

I fell asleep at work yesterday. My boss wasn't impressed given that I was having a monthly review with him at the time...

[Rolebama]

My only 'complaint' about clock-shifting is that when I worked for the AA on nights, I seemed to get all the nights when the clocks went back, meaning I did the extra hour for 'free'. (It should have been a 'swings and roundabouts', but I never got to ride the roundabout.) As for falling asleep at work, I would suggest you have more than this as a problem, as anybody should have the ability to lose an occasional hours sleep and still perform. (During my time with the Army, I regularly did 7 and 10 day sxercises where I would be lucky to get 10hrs sleep over the entirety, and on 3 and 4 day exercises, I sometimes would not get any.)

[wagolynn]

Originally Posted by Andy2009

I really do not understand why we continue messing with the clocks.

In Manchester light breaks at about 530 am in March. Gets dark about 6ish. In winter, it starts getting light about 730 and dark at 4ish.

The main problem that I see is feeling knackered in the morning in Spring due to the clocks going forward and tired in the evening in Winter due to staying up the extra hour.

I say we should leave the damned bloody clocks alone (preferably at GMT) and let us all keep in a pattern instead of having thsi twice yearly jolt to the system.

I fell asleep at work yesterday. My boss wasn't impressed given that I was having a monthly review with him at the time...

Are negative points possible in your review system?:o
The clocks should be left alone and stay on GMT.
Re Road Safety shifting the clocks about will not have any posative effects.

[smudger]

Aye! when I was in the Navy I always dipped out when we sailed through time zones.

I always ended up doing longer watches, and NEVER ever got the good end, extra time in my bunk:rolleyes:

[wagolynn]

I think that is called sods law.:)

[chopper jockey]

If the only reason for putting the clocks back in October is for the safety of children, then the logical solution would be to stay on summer time and send the kids to school an hour later. Imagine that, the school run after rush hour!