Friday, November 05, 2010

Pedestrians: It’s that time of year to be scared again

If you thought last weekend was scary walking around with all those ghouls, goblins and ghosts wandering the streets, think again! This coming Sunday morning marks the end of Daylight Savings Time and with it comes an annual significant spike in pedestrian crashes (likely bicyclist crashes too).

This unfortunate trend is due to the end of usable daylight between 5 and 6pm and the continuation of relatively warm weather that makes walking around rather comfortable well into the evening. It is also probable that the shock of coming out and finding it dark by 5pm leaves both pedestrians and drivers a little out of phase and unaccustomed to the earlier darkness.

This crash phenomenon is one of the reasons why Daylight Savings Times now lasts so late into the Fall. Going back to Standard Time the week after Halloween gives all the trick-or-treaters more daylight to roam the streets on Halloween and all those other days and evenings in October.

Take note and take precautions whether you’ll be on two feet or two wheels.

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