Digression: The Time Change Debate

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) – Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend on Sunday at 2:00 am.

We’ll set the clocks back an hour, gain an hour of sleep, and then complain about how dark it gets in the early evening for about a week.

There has been debate for many years about whether we should stop changing the clocks twice a year. It even received some support from local state governments, but even though several bills were introduced, none ever made much progress. Although about 2/3 of Americans say they want to stop changing clocks, there is no clear agreement on whether to stay on standard time or daylight saving time.

Daylight saving time was first introduced during World War I as an energy conservation policy. However, the most recent study of daylight saving time and energy consumption, conducted in 2008, found that people actually use more energy during the summer because, with more daylight, people use air conditioners longer, even if their lights aren’t on as long. However, some argue that climate change and rising temperatures each year play a role.

Studies have shown that the biggest headache when changing time is driving. While more people will have daylight for their morning commute, most heading home from work will find it dark. Research shows that a few days after Daylight Saving Time ends, there is a significant increase in car accidents during evening rush hours.

Back in 1974, Americans did stop changing the clock… but it didn’t work for long. After several months of switching to daylight saving time during the autumn and winter months, we went back to changing the time as there was a lot of concern about children going to school in the dark. Even if we don’t change our clocks, the Earth still rotates around the Sun and reduces daylight hours during the winter months—regardless of the actual time. If we abandoned standard time altogether, during the winter months the sun wouldn’t rise until 8:00 am. During testing in the 70s, there was an astronomical increase in the number of car accidents, especially in the early morning.

On the other hand, retailers argue that daylight saving time helps boost the economy when it gets lighter later. More people say they don’t shop as much in the fall and winter because it gets dark earlier. Women especially don’t like to be in dark parking lots or garages for safety reasons. It is a fact that, aside from the Christmas rush, retail sales are generally much slower during the Standard Time months, but it has not been proven whether the time change has a direct impact on this or not.

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