Clock Change Works
Stick with daylight savings
THE US Senate just voted to make millions of kids go to school before sunrise for months at a time, via a bill to put the whole country on permanent daylight saving time. That problem is just one of many with the idea of eliminating the twice-ayear clock resets. Indeed, we already tried it, back in the ’70s — and changed our minds.
Yes, tens of millions of Americans could get another hour of sleep one night of the year — but, as a result, they would have to go to work or school in the dark and cold for four months. Alternatively, other millions of Americans would lose 240 days of beautiful spring and summer evenings.
Those would be the effects of proposals nationally and in many states to install either permanent daylight time (keeping summer DST throughout winter) or permanent standard time (using winter’s standard time all year). While these options may seem enticing, both have major flaws.
Our current system, spring-to-fall DST followed by standard time in winter, is an excellent compromise. It provides DST’s numerous benefits most of the year and avoids winter DST’s many problems in the darkest, coldest months.
The Senate plan passed Tuesday, permanent daylight time, is not a new idea at all. It has already been tried across the entire United States, proved quite unpopular nationally and was quickly discontinued.
During a national energy crisis in 1974, the federal government initiated nationwide permanent DST for two years. But winter DST rapidly lost favor. People disliked going to work on very dark winter mornings. They especially detested sending children to school on very dark mornings, walking dark streets or waiting for buses on dark roads.
Polls showed DST popular for most months — but not November through February. Congress agreed with the national judgment and eliminated permanent DST — though the program would’ve automatically terminated after one more year.
Permanent daylight time makes already-late winter sunrises one hour later — New York, Chicago and San Francisco sunrises about 8:30 a.m.; Minneapolis, Detroit and Seattle sunrises about 9 a.m.; in some US areas sunrises after 9:30 a.m. Many would leave for work or school in full darkness.
Furthermore, under winter DST, mornings would also be colder — unpleasant everywhere and especially in more frigid areas. Many people would be out before sunrise, when it’s coldest.
Other issues: Sleep and circadian-cycle experts state that dark mornings are worse for health than dark evenings and exposure to daylight soon after waking is important.
The other idea, permanent standard time, eliminates the many benefits of eight months of DST. Numerous studies show that spring-to-fall DST lowers traffic fatalities, reduces crimes like mugging, increases public health and life quality by getting people outdoors more, trims energy usage and minimizes energy peaks.
Permanent standard time makes many spring and summer sunrises extremely early, while everyone is sleeping: New York, Chicago and Las Vegas sunrises before 4:30 a.m.; Los Angeles, Washington and Cleveland sunrises before 5 a.m. For many months, Americans would sleep through morning sunshine, wasting daylight better employed later that day. Today’s DST plan moves one “wasted” sunshine hour to a much more usable evening hour.
Since 1966, every state could choose permanent standard time; all but two rejected it and those for unique reasons. Hawaii is near the equator, where daylight hours vary little over the year and thus DST’s benefits are smaller. Arizona? With extreme summer heat in its most populous areas, people don’t want added summer daylight — instead they await sunset to go outdoors.
Permanent DST or standard time would eliminate DST’s clock changes. While some feel it’s troublesome, with reports of short-term negative impacts, tut the effects of the clock change last just one or a few days, while summer DST’s benefits last 240 days and winter standard time’s benefits last 120 days.
The forward clock change is similar to traveling one time zone to the east (Chicago to New York, London to Paris, Beijing to Tokyo), which multitudes do worldwide every single day. (And many travel across multiple time zones.)
There are better ways than transforming our time system to minimize any negative effects of the clock change, such as the very short-term increase of a day or two in car accidents. Several days in advance of each DST transition, for example, a public-service campaign could remind people the clock change is coming and encourage more sleep and going to sleep earlier the days before. That’s preferable to four months of very dark and cold mornings each year.
Permanent DST and permanent standard time have many drawbacks. The current, very reasonable compromise DST system brings great benefits throughout the year — and gives us the best of both.