The increase was significant only in the evening. And there’s a corresponding drop in collisions after the spring time change.
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.
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 Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec 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.