NATIONAL road safety charity Brake is calling on drivers to slow down and look out for people on foot and bicycle as the clocks go back making evenings darker and more treacherous on our roads.

Brake is also urging the Government to abolish the UK's archaic time zone system and adopt Central European Time to save lives on roads.

By switching to Central European Time, we would experience longer hours of daylight in the evening. Although early mornings would be darker, the switch would mean increased visibility at crucial times of day. Research suggests that 450 deaths and serious injuries each year could be prevented if we switched to a different time zone.

Central European Time would mean that rather than reverting to Greenwich Mean Time in October (and putting the clocks back one hour), the clocks would stay one hour ahead until spring, when they would then be put forward another hour in March. From then on they would be put backward and forward an hour each year as with the current system. This would not reduce the number of daylight hours, but would mean more light in the evenings.

Brake is also urging pedestrians and cyclists to ensure they can be seen by drivers by wearing bright and reflective clothing and taking care when crossing. Cyclists should also make sure they have fully functioning lights.

Road Safety Week is November 5-11. www.roadsafetyweek.org.