Why Do We Still Change Clocks Every Spring and Fall?
While preparing for this morning's show, I found it interesting that almost every piece of news I found on the topic was negative. If the effects of the time change are so clear, why do we still do it?
Or is this another case of news people looking only at the bad side of a topic?Does anyone have anything GOOD to say about the twice annual change of the clocks in North America?
It seems not. Here are all the bad news items I found about the clock change back to Eastern Standard Time.
- A Michigan State University study reveals that when we 'fall back', and daylight saving time ends, we only gain 12 minutes of sleep and not one hour. In the spring, when that hour is taken away, people lose an average of 40 minutes of sleep.
-A new survey by Zico Coconut Water reveals that 58% of people would be willing to pay $2,725 for an extra hour in their day. Other findings:
- A Rasmussen Report survey reveals that just 33% of people think Daylight Saving Time is worth the hassle. 48% of people say clock-changing is not worthwhile.
- A Better Sleep Council survey found that 61% of people feel the effects of DST the Monday after resetting their clocks.
- A University of Alabama-Birmingham survey revealed an increase of 10% in the risk of a heart attack on the Monday and Tuesday after Daylight Saving Time begins and a decrease of 10% when it ends
- The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute reports that pedestrians are more at risk of serious injury from a motor vehicle crash in the weeks following the return to standard time. The most dangerous time is the first hour after darkness.
- Oh, and the time change can cause symptoms similar to jet lag, says the CBC. (I found that story while Goggling "good things about the time change". Go figure.)
So why go on with this? Simple.
We get one more hour of sunlight AFTER work during the summer, and that means more time on a pontoon boat with a beer in my hand.
Any questions?