For three years, the United Kingdom refused to reset its clocks in October. The experiment, dubbed British Standard Time (BST), kept GMT+1 year-round. It ran from October 27, 1968 to October 31, 1971, according to the dates generally cited. The Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) produced a numerical assessment: about 2,700 people killed or seriously injured fewer over the first two winters.
That figure is striking, but it warrants close reading.
- The United Kingdom kept GMT+1 all year round from 1968 to 1971.
- The TRRL estimates roughly 2,700 fewer killed or seriously injured over two winters.
- Mornings became more dangerous, evenings safer, especially in northern Scotland.
- The Commons rejected BST in December 1970 by 366 votes to 81.
Fewer Victims in the Evening, More Injuries in the Morning
BST did not emerge from nowhere. An inquiry conducted during the winter 1959-1960 among 180 national organizations had already revealed a slight preference for GMT+1 year-round, but the approach had simply extended daylight saving time as an experiment. A new survey in 1966-1967 prompted Harold Wilson’s government to launch the experiment. Daylight saving time had already existed since the 1916 Act, which advanced clocks by one hour from May 21 to October 1 to support the war effort.
Advancing the legal time in winter does not create an extra minute of daylight: it shifts the morning daylight toward the late afternoon. The TRRL’s early calculations showed that more people were injured in the morning, in the dark, and fewer in the afternoon, with more light. These 1970 estimates relied on data from earlier winters to make the comparison. The net balance leans in the right direction: about 2,700 killed or seriously injured avoided over two winters.
One region stood out as an exception: the north of Scotland, where the record worsened.
To gauge the magnitude, 2,700 people is enough to fill 54 fifty-seat coaches. When spread over each of the two winters, the average amounts to 1,350 lives saved. The laboratory itself judged its 1970 estimates imprecise, and they are better read as an order of magnitude rather than an exact count.
The experiment began shortly after the 1967 drunk-driving law, which may have reduced accidents on its own. The 1989 reanalysis, taking this into account, yielded results broadly aligned—with those of 1970—in broad terms.
On December 2, 1970, MPs Turn the Page
The Commons buried the BST experiment on December 2, 1970: 366 votes to 81.
The bill submitted to the MPs aimed to make BST permanent. If rejected, the country would revert to Greenwich Mean Time on October 31, 1971, the planned end date of the trial. The 366-81 vote was decisive, even as the overall road-safety balance of the experiment favored BST. More than 30 MPs had risen to speak, including six delivering opening remarks.
Each side had its arguments. Business circles saw the advantage of an hour aligned with Western Europe, while postal workers and road-maintenance crews argued that the long dark mornings were detrimental to their work. Local authorities consulted were split thus: 64% with no firm opinion, 28% in favor of returning to the old system, and only 8% for BST.
Polls cited by the Home Secretary depicted a nation divided: 50% of those surveyed wanted to stay on BST in mid-winter, versus 41%. In Scotland, 61% wanted to revert to GMT.
The strongest voices came from the north. A Scottish MP spoke of headlights still being on at 9:40 and claimed that by mid-December “it is 10:15 before any daylight appears.” These testimonies primarily concerned northern Scotland, the sole region where accident statistics had worsened.
What the 2,700 Figure Says, and What It Does Not
Another thread of concern in the debates was child safety. MPs cited a “surprising and sad” rise in accidents involving children between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. A statistical balance is hard to defend in the face of a concrete case that can be recounted. Among the opening speeches were those from representatives of the Western Isles and Ross and Cromarty, two constituencies in northern Scotland.
That episode never left the British debate. The House of Commons Library devotes pages 12 to 14 of a note on the Daylight Saving Bill 2010-11 to it. There one finds the TRRL’s evaluation, the 1989 reanalysis, and the December 1970 vote.
In France, clocks go back one hour on the night from Saturday to Sunday.
The British resolved this same trade-off between morning light and evening light as early as 1970. Their clock returned to GMT on October 31, 1971, after three winters of trial.
Sources: researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk | hansard.millbanksystems.com
