Fleet managers and their drivers should note that the clocks move back one hour this weekend.

This means it will be darker earlier in the evenings.

This is expected to lead to a greater number of crashes as drivers head for home after work next week.

As a result, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is calling on drivers to take more care, especially as pedestrians and cyclists will be harder to see.

The safety charity is also continuing to press for the introduction of a system that would give an extra hour of daylight in the evening all year round.

RoSPA has been calling for many years for the UK to move to a system called “Single Double Summer Time” (SDST), which would put the clocks one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in winter and two hours ahead of GMT in summer.

In a report published today, the Public Accounts Committee states that there is “substantial evidence” that fewer people would be killed and seriously injured on the roads if the clocks were put forward by one hour throughout the year.

In April, the Department for Transport launched a consultation on its new road safety strategy.

The consultation document acknowledged research which found that a move to SDST could reduce road deaths by around 80 per year and serious injuries by around 212 per year.

It also stated that while moving to SDST would involve a one-off cost of £5million to publicise the change, it would then result in benefits of £138.36million a year due to the reduction in road casualties, and would also lead to energy savings, business benefits and more opportunities for sport and leisure.

It said the cost-benefit case in road safety terms was “clear”, but that the issue went beyond the scope of the strategy consultation due to the other implications requiring consideration.

In May, the National Audit Office published a report Improving Road Safety for Pedestrians and Cyclists in Great Britain, which stated that there were 10% more collisions killing or injuring a pedestrian in the four weeks following the clocks going back than in the four weeks before the clocks changed.

Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, said: “We need to keep the momentum behind this long-running campaign.

"In view of the reports published this year, plus the casualty data from 2008, we will continue to call for a change which, we believe, would save lives and reduce injuries.

“Casualty data shows that more pedestrians are killed and injured in the afternoon and early evening than in the morning.

"Therefore, by moving to SDST, vulnerable road users like children walking home from school would have an extra hour of daylight in which to make their journeys.

“It is time for the issue to come off the shelf and for the full implications to be considered.

"A three-year trial could answer many of the questions.”