Dark day danger warning for Cambs kids

CAMBRIDGESHIRE road safety experts are urging children, along with all pedestrians and cyclists, to Be Bright, Be Seen after the clocks go back at 2am BST (which becomes 1am GMT) on Sunday. The county council road safety team is promoting the new nation

CAMBRIDGESHIRE road safety experts are urging children, along with all pedestrians and cyclists, to 'Be Bright, Be Seen' after the clocks go back at 2am BST (which becomes 1am GMT) on Sunday.

The county council road safety team is promoting the new national campaign, which highlights the dangers, for children in particular, as the darker evenings draw in and the clocks go back an hour.

The campaign is based on imagery showing children from Cambourne Youth club standing at varying distances from a car. Those in bright reflective clothing, even at the furthest distances from the car, can be seen clearly and are far safer, whereas all the children in darker clothing are significantly less visible.

Traditionally, accident figures for pedestrians rise in November as the days draw in and people are less visible to motorists, and last year 27 child pedestrians were injured on Cambridgeshire's roads. In addition, all drivers should be aware of the darker mornings and the winter nights drawing in earlier, and remember that they may not have seen pedestrians and cyclists clearly. The roads are also getting wetter, so slowing down and staying aware is even more critical.

County road safety officer Phil Rennie said: "People forget how little they can be seen by drivers when the mornings, afternoons and evenings get darker. We want to remind all people to make sure that they, and especially their children, can be clearly seen at night with brighter clothing, and remind drivers to be especially aware."

INFORMATION: Between 1968 and 1971, BST (GMT plus one hour) was kept all year round. Winter road casualties, particularly child casualties, reduced significantly in those years, but the experiment was abandoned after opposition from Scottish farmers.