Clocks forward, check your ride: Wairarapa urged to slow down as daylight saving begins

This weekend we lose an hour of sleep and gain long summer evenings. Wairarapa Road Safety Council is asking everyone on our roads to use the change as a reminder: check your ride, plan your time, and stop rushing.

Daylight saving starts at 2am on Sunday 27 September, when clocks go forward to 3am. It sounds like a small change. The research says otherwise.

A University of Auckland study looked at 12.6 million ACC accident claims from 2005 to 2016. It found road accidents jumped 23% on the Sunday daylight saving began. They were still 12% higher on the Monday and 6% higher on each day from Tuesday to Friday. The researchers put this down to lost sleep, darker morning commutes and hurried starts to the day.

“It’s one hour, but it matters,” says Holly Hullena, spokesperson for Wairarapa Road Safety Council. “Most of us feel that Monday morning. We’re a bit foggy, a bit behind, and a bit more likely to put our foot down to make up time. That’s exactly when mistakes happen.”

Check your batteries, check your ride

Many Kiwi households already have a spring routine of checking smoke alarm batteries when the clocks change. The Council wants to add one thing to it.

“We already use daylight saving as the reminder to check the batteries at home. Take five more minutes and check your ride too,” says Hullena. “Tyres, lights, wipers, a clean windscreen inside and out, and a pair of sunglasses in the glovebox. It’s a small habit that could save your life or someone else’s.”

The light changes how we drive

For the next few weeks, sunrise moves back to around 7am, so early commutes, school runs and shift changes happen in lower light again. Evening glare also shifts: the low sun sits right in your eyes at different times and on different stretches of road than you’re used to.

“Glare on State Highway 2 heading west in the evening can be blinding,” says Hullena. “If you can’t see, slow down. Leave more space and expect that the person in front can’t see well either.”

The longer evenings also bring more people outside: kids on bikes, walkers, runners, and motorcyclists taking their bikes out for the first time since winter.

The end-of-year rush

WRSC says the bigger risk is how we behave at this time of year, not just the clock.

“Once daylight saving kicks in, we can see the end of the year coming,” Hullena says. “We try to fit more in: more jobs, more sport, more commitments, more driving. When we’re all in a rush to get somewhere, that’s when mistakes happen, and that’s when crashes happen.”

The advice is simple:

•     Running late? Text before you leave, not while you drive. “Send the ‘running 10 minutes late’ message from the driveway. Nobody has ever been upset that you arrived safely.”

•     Watch your speed. “Speeding saves you seconds on a Wairarapa trip. It’s not worth it.”

•     Build in buffer time, especially for the first week while your body adjusts.

Looking out for each other

•     Heavy transport drivers: An hour less sleep adds to fatigue, and early starts are darker again. Stick to your fatigue plan, take your breaks, and remember that other road users may be tired and misjudge gaps too.

•     Motorcyclists: Before your first spring ride, check your tyres, brakes, chain and lights. Wear hi-vis gear and give yourself a few rides to get your skills back. Drivers: look twice for bikes.

•     Shift workers: Changeover shifts are the riskiest because your body clock is already stretched. If you’re drowsy after a night shift, have a 20-minute power nap before you drive home, or get a lift.

•     Tradies: It’s a busy season with back-to-back jobs and loaded utes. Secure your load, plan your day realistically, and don’t make up time on the road between jobs.

•     Parents and students: Primary kids need to be bright and seen, and drivers near schools need to slow right down. College students who have just got their licence haven’t driven through a daylight saving change before. Talk to them about fatigue, glare and not rushing, and remind them that passengers can speak up.

“Everyone’s got a role,” says Hullena. “Heavy transport, riders, tradies, shift workers, parents, young drivers, all of us. Most Wairarapa people already drive with care. We’re asking everyone to take that extra bit of care for the next few weeks.”

Let’s not finish the year grieving

At least 227 people have died on New Zealand roads so far this year (provisional figure as at 21 September). In South Wairarapa alone last year, two people were killed and 16 were seriously injured. Nearly half of the district’s 81 reported crashes were on State Highway 2, and speed and fatigue were among the contributing factors.

“Every one of those numbers is someone’s parent, child, grandparent, workmate or teammate,” says Hullena. “We’ve got three months left in the year. Let’s not get to Christmas mourning more losses on our roads. Slow down, plan ahead, check your ride, and get home.”

Quick checklist for this weekend

•     Clocks go forward at 2am on Sunday 27 September.

•     Get to bed early on Saturday.

•     Check smoke alarm batteries, then check your ride: tyres, lights, wipers, windscreen, sunglasses.

•     Plan for Monday and leave 10 minutes early.

•     If you’re running late, text before you go, and watch your speed.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Media contact: Holly Hullena, Spokesperson, Wairarapa Road Safety Council

Sources

•     University of Auckland – Take care, it’s daylight saving time (2020)

•     NZ Transport Agency – South Wairarapa crash data 2025 (provisional, as at 10 Feb 2026)

•     NZ Road Deaths Calendar 2026 (provisional road toll)

•     NZ Transport Agency – Identifying and preventing driver fatigue

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