DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME, THE CONTROVERSY By Sarah j. McNeal #TheWildingsSeries

 

So, what’s the deal with Daylight Saving Time? How did it even get started and why? The controversy about manipulating time and the pros and cons of keeping Daylight Saving Time and ditching it.

 

Benjamin Franklin was the first to come up with the idea of Daylight Saving Time. He wrote an essay about it while a delegate in Paris in 1784 which he titled “An Economical Project.” Read more about Franklin's essay  In summary, Franklin noticed the Parisians did not rise with the sun, but rather slept late and stayed up late. Staying up later, of course, meant they used more candles and made the practice more expensive. Some of his French friends liked the idea, but the first person to take his idea of DST was William Willet (1857-1915), a London builder who appeared in a pamphlet titled “Waste of Daylight” in 1907 that suggested forwarding clocks 20 minutes on each of four days in April, and setting them back for four days in September by the same amount. Personally, I find this even more complicated. When asked why he didn’t just get up earlier, Willet replied, “What?” Like, okay maybe the British would rather manipulate time than live with it. Just sayin’. He further said, “Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings. Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used."

 

It wasn’t until World War II that year round DST was implemented and earned the moniker, “War Time.” The states did not uniformly observe DST, however, and the date and time of changing the clocks caused along with time zones caused problems with TV stations, transportation agencies, and nationwide industries that depended on coordinated time.

 

In 1966 the Uniform Time Act came about to unify the observance of time across the country and included when it would start and end. After some amendments, today daylight saving time begins at 2:00 am local time on the second Sunday in March when we’ll set our clocks forward by one hour. It will end at 2:00am on the first Sunday in November when we’ll move those clocks back by one hour back to standard time.

 

There are those who advocate staying on DST all year round, and others who think we should change the time at all and go back to permanent standard time. Those who want to continue switching to DST site the economic savings it brings and how it boosts the economy by encouraging shoppers and those who enjoy outdoor activities to do so longer during the day. Studies have shown that more daylight driving has reduced traffic accidents by one percent in the United States and Great Britain.

 

Unfortunately, recent studies indicate pedestrian fatalities rise significantly at 6:00 pm during the weeks in the fall. Those who walk are more likely to be hit and killed by cars right after the switch than in the month before DST ends. Although the risk drops in the morning, there are fewer pedestrians at 6:00 am, so the lives saved in the morning don’t offset those lost in the evening. The University of Michigan found in their research that 65 pedestrians were killed by car crashes in the week before DST ended, compared to 227 pedestrians killed in the week following the end of DST.

 

In a 1976 report by the National Bureau of Standards disputed the 1975 U.S. Department of Transportation’s study stating the DST related energy savings were “insignificant.” The study continued to influence decisions regarding Daylight Saving Time.

 

Recent studies suggest there’s not much benefit in actual energy savings, especially with the widespread shift to electric power after World War II. And there are health concerns as well. Isaac Fausett, who lives with epilepsy in Grand Island, Nebraska, found that the sleep deprivation following the time shift likely sparked more seizures.

 

Green lines indicate Time Zones. Dark Brown States that want permanent Standard Time, and Olive Green, states with pending bills to stay on Daylight Saving Time.

Standard Time Zones in the United States

Not all the states are on board with DST. Hawaii and Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation) do not observe DST. Also the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not observe DST.

 

Some states want to stay on DST year round.

 

This year, dozens of states have bills proposing changes to daylight saving, and some states, including Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas have bills in progress to opt out of the shift entirely. This option would require the state to stay on standard time year round. But that's often met by opposition, because this would mean the sun would rise and set an hour earlier than citizens are used to for most of the year. Other states wishing to keep DST year round are Florida that passed a bill with huge support to maintain DST year round now pending action by Congress. California, with 60 percent approval has a bill pending in state legislature and are joined by bills pending for Oregon and Washington State.

 

Still, many states are making strides. Last year, Florida passed a bill with overwhelming support that declared the state would go on year-round daylight saving time pending action by Congress. A similar proposition in California gained nearly 60 percent of the popular vote, though it still needs approval in the state legislature. Now, bills pending in Oregon and Washington State also propose year-round daylight saving.

 

Another option many New England States hope to adopt is a year round “Atlantic Standard Time’” a zone that lies to the east of Eastern Standard Time, and opt out of DST. These states are New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

 

With all this said, I have to admit I find it annoying switching back and forth in the spring and fall. The only purpose it serves for me is to remind me to change the batteries in my smoke detector. I wish they would just make up their minds to use one or another, but this switching back and forth is just aggravating. Since not all states are not on board with switching it just makes it all more complicated as far as I’m concerned. It makes me want to holler.

What do you think? Keep switching? Stay with Daylight Saving Time? Just go back to Standard Time and stick with it?

 

 

 Sarah J. McNeal

Author of Heartwarming Stories

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