15
Sep
2015
By Calvin at 10:40 GMT, 10 years ago
Not that I’m counting, but on Sunday, 25 October 2015 at 02:00 hrs we will have to turn our clocks back one hour, which will mark the end of Daylight Saving Time. So, we’re just 40 days away from those awful earlier darker nights.
Police data tells us that this clock change coincides with a spike in property crime and if you think about it it’s pretty obvious why.
These are the facts:
- On the evening of 24th October sunset in London will be at 5:50pm and it will be dark by 6:20pm – Lots of people will be home from work by then
- Due to the clock change on 25th October sunset in London will be at 4:47pm and it will be dark by 5:17pm – Lots of people will NOT be home from work by then
- Unoccupied homes, especially those not displaying lights, are more likely to be burgled.
What to do:
- You need to make sure that your home does not stand out in the road by being in darkness. Start planning your improvements now – in plenty of time
- Make your home look occupied by displaying internal lights. Operate these lights on timers and or solar switches
- Operate external lights by your entrance door, preferable using a solar switch, so that the entrance is automatically lit up for your arrival home
- Vertical blinds, thick nets etc can mask the fact that nobody is at home when the internal timed lights come on
- Think about getting one of those ‘Fake TV’ lights that give the impression that someone is watching TV in a room. I use mine upstairs in a front bedroom with the vertical blinds closed – very effective.
- Make sure your home security is up to scratch
I shall be repeating this message, because it’s really, really important and your actions now can prevent crime – another fact!
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has been campaigning for Lighter Evenings for many years. This is a campaign I support, because if we adopted Single/Double British Summertime and permanently moved our clocks forward by one hour we would not only save lives on our roads and reduce our CO2 emissions, but we would reduce the opportunity for crime in the autumn and winter evenings.
The campaign is already supported by Living Streets, The AA, Brake (the British road safety charity), PACTS (the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport and Safety), and many other organisations across the country.
Read the Lighter Evenings page on RoSPA’s website and click their support button if you agree with what they say. I would appreciate some tweeting and sharing of this message – thanks.
RoSPA http://www.rospa.com/campaigns-fundraising/current/lighter-evenings/
