Don’t forget to ‘fall back’ one hour tonight          photo courtesy ICBC

Prince George, BC – With a reminder to set your clocks back one hour tonight comes a warning from ICBC that it’s also a time to be extra cautious on the roads…

In the two weeks following the end of Daylight Savings Time, statistics from the insurance corporation show there is a 16-percent increase in the average number of crashes during the afternoon commute in the two weeks following the time change, compared to the two weeks prior to the change.

While the time change means we could get an extra hour of sleep tonight, an ICBC survey says 30-percent of drivers over-compensate for that hour by staying up later and losing any potential ‘rest’ benefit.

"We rationalize that extra hour of sleep – many of us think that we can stay awake longer, but we actually end up feeling more tired and less alert," says ICBC psychologist, Dr. John Vavrik.  "The time change is an opportunity to get some extra rest and it’s also a good time to think about how we can adjust our driving to the fall and winter road conditions."

To that end, Environment Canada’s five-day forecast indicates we may be given the opportunity to begin using our winter driving skills on Tuesday, with a 60-percent chance of flurries in the forecast.