AN EXTRA 50 people will die on the roads next month after the annual ritual of turning back the clocks this weekend brings darkness an hour earlier.

Analysis of previous years’ death figures by the RAC Foundation has prompted renewed calls for England and Wales to join the same time zone as most of the rest of Europe by moving the clocks forward another hour throughout the year. This would mean Greenwich Mean Time plus two hours in summer, and GMT plus one hour in winter.

Such a move is supported by, among others, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa), Age Concern and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts). A study in 1998 by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) found that lighter evenings would save 100 deaths and 340 serious injuries a year. Previous attempts at modification have been defeated by opposition in Scotland, where reform would mean the sun not rising anywhere before 9am in January and February.

The RAC research shows how sharply the death rate increases once the clocks go back. There were 256 deaths in October last year and 316 in November. There was a similar jump in 2003, from 256 in October to 300 in November. Pedestrians accounted for more than a third of the extra deaths. Over the past five years pedestrian deaths have risen by an average of 23 between October and November.

Studies have shown that, as dusk falls, drivers struggle to see pedestrians and find it harder to judge their own speed. In the early morning, when it starts off dark but becomes lighter, drivers are less likely to make misjudgments. Last year twice as many people were killed between 4pm and 6pm as between 7am and 9am.

While lighter evenings would result in a small increase in road deaths during darker mornings, this would be more than outweighed by the benefits in the evening.

Rob Gifford, director of Pacts, said that drivers were often less alert in the evenings after a tiring day at work. Children were also exposed to traffic for longer periods in the evenings. They usually went directly to school in the morning, but after lessons tended to hang around or visit relatives or the shops.

Mr Gifford said: “The question for the Government is whether children in England and Wales should continue to be killed in the face of Scottish obduracy.” He said that Scotland did not have to belong to the same time zone as the rest of Britain and the Scottish Parliament could choose to keep to GMT in winter.

The Scottish National Party continues to oppose any change, despite evidence that Scotland would also benefit in road safety terms from lighter evenings. A separate TRL study found that deaths would fall more sharply in central Scotland than anywhere in England. The only increase would be in the north of Scotland, and this would be modest.

A government consultation in 1988 produced very different results north and south of the border. In England and Wales, 59 per cent of respondents supported moving to European time, whereas 80 per cent from Scotland supported the status quo.

Kevin Clinton, of Rospa, said: “In addition to the lives saved, lighter evenings would provide more opportunity for outdoor activities, which would help to tackle obesity.”

The Department for Transport said: “The department recognises that there may be road safety benefits in advancing the clocks by one hour in both summer and winter.

“However, any amendment to the UK’s time would need to have full regard to wider impact any changes would bring, including the effects on business, health and safety issues and on community life.”

The RAC said that many of the extra deaths next month could be prevented if drivers and pedestrians took simple precautions. More than a million cars and 12,500 motorcyles failed their MoT tests last year because of lighting defects. And parents should ensure that children had high-visibility clothing and markers on their bags.