Year-round daylight saving time

Proposition 7 is the biggest waste of time on the November ballot. And that’s saying something. Even those who hate the seasonal switch to standard time and daylight saving time should vote no on this ill-conceived ballot measure to make daylight saving time permanent, yearround.

Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose, is the driving force behind the proposal to repeal the state’s 1949 Daylight Saving Time Act. He says the current practice of springing forward on the second Sunday of March and falling back on the first Sunday of November is outdated and not beneficial to Californians.

As a former member of the Berryessa Union School Board, he should know better.

More than 6 million children attend K-12 schools in the state. If Prop. 7 passes, those children will be walking, biking, waiting for buses or driving to school in the dark for about three months every year. On Dec. 1, for example, sunrise in the Bay Area would be at 8:05 a.m., instead of 7:05 a.m. On Feb. 1, it would be 8:13 a.m., instead of 7:13 a.m.

The average school start time for California schools is 8:07 a.m. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 20 percent of the total number of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes are children up to 14 years old. It also notes that more than 70 percent of all pedestrians killed in traffic accidents occur when it is dark.

Nothing is more important to parents than the safety of their children. California has no business putting their lives at greater risk, even if year-round daylight saving time means youth sports teams can practice later in the evenings before it gets dark.

The potential for disruption for California businesses is also problematic. Changing to year-round daylight saving time will mean airlines have to change their flight schedules for the state.