THERE was no doubt in the Coroner’s mind that the winter darkness plunging the two bus stops on the Addingham bypass into gloom contributed to the accident which cruelly robbed a young schoolgirl of her life in December 2006.

At this time of year, when dusk descends all too early, there is a special need for areas of pedestrian activity to be artificially lit.

While there is a wider debate about the clocks in Britain going back and forward at the beginning and end of winter, we should not let the grass grow under our feet when it comes to implementing measures to mitigate the worst effects of what seems to many a pointless and dangerous exercise.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has campaigned for some time, calling for an end to the artificial shortening of the day on winter afternoons rather than in the morning, but it seems likely that no change is on the ever-darkening horizon as yet.

So it is somewhat surprising that Bradford Council has taken two years to get the lights at the bus stops installed. This is the second winter since 12-year-old Amy Howard was killed and people are still having to use those bus stops in December, the darkest month of the year without any illumination whatsoever.

Obviously there was a problem of the remoteness of the area and lack of electricity mains cables, necessitating an alternative source of energy for the lights, but modern solar-powered technology has been available for some time.

No doubt all road users, whether pedestrians or drivers, will be grateful for Bradford Council’s solution to the problem, but we can’t help wondering why it wasn’t implemented sooner.