Get your MP to collect the kids from school

Now is the time to start lobbying your MP and inviting him or her to pick up your children after school, says road safety expert GEM Motoring Assist, formerly known as the Guild of Experienced Motorists.

It is suggesting you get a date in their diary for some time in November just after British Summer Time has ended at the close of October and the darker, murky afternoons have set in.

“Getting your MP to do the school run is one way of making them realise how dangerous it is to persist in putting the clocks back and endangering life and limb of our younger population,” says David Williams, Chief Executive of GEM that works for better conditions for all road users.

“Along with other safety organisations we have campaigned for many years to keep BST all year round so that pupils make their way home in better light conditions. We need to show those that are elected to represent us how inappropriate putting the clocks back is, giving poor visibility at a time when children are tired and want to get home and are therefore vulnerable on the road.

David said creating lighter mornings during the winter months was a concept developed nearly a century ago when Britain was predominately a farming nation. He said: “That is no longer the case and modern farmyards have plenty of electric lighting these days. The safety of children must be the new priority and so many are injured or even worse after the clocks have altered.”

National research has proved clearly that by not changing the clocks away from BST in the winter, a staggering 120 lives and around 450 serious injuries could be saved on our roads.

“While we realise that a few weeks remain before the alteration takes place this year MPs have crowded agendas and you need to give them plenty of warning.”

He said your local MP could be contacted through the House of Commons or the local constituency office. “A number of parents writing from the same school may have maximum impact,” he recommended.

An attempt, earlier this year, to change the law regarding British Summer Time failed in Parliament because too few MPs turned up for the debate.

GEM, that has 65,000 members who all agree to drive with care, courtesy and concentration, provides a number of services to road users including a series of free booklets on safer travel. Apart from campaigning it also gives grants for research and recognises those that work for a better road environment. More details are available at motoringassist.com.