More people hurt in Quebec road accidents after fall time change, data shows

Quebec ambulance - FILE PHOTO (Daniel J. Rowe/CTV News)

New data from Quebec's auto insurance board shows that evening road accidents -- including those involving pedestrians -- rise sharply in the 30 days following the fall time change, when the sun sets earlier.

The data comes as the province is holding consultations on the possibility of scrapping the twice-yearly practice of moving the clocks forward one hour in the spring and back in the fall.

Between 2019 and 2023 the average number of injury-causing accidents across the province between the hours of 5 and 8 p.m. rose by more than 25 per cent in the weeks following the fall time change, to 359 collisions from 287.

The data provided by the Societe de l'assurance automobile du Quebec indicates that collisions were also up over the entire course of the day, but by 3.8 per cent.

The spring time change had the opposite effect, with the number of crashes over the course of the day dropping by nearly 24 per cent in the 30 days after the clocks move forward and the sun sets later.

Accidents involving pedestrians in the evening hours rose by 78 per cent following the fall time change, and dropped by 44 per cent after daylight time begins in the spring.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 25, 2024.