Here we go again, it’s Daylight Saving Time

[GenXguy]

I despise going this direction (To Daylight Savings, losing an hour of sleep).

I always laugh when I hear people say that in the media and elsewhere. I've never lost any sleep due to DST my entire life. Go to bed earlier or wake up later.

 

[Andre1969]

I always laugh when I hear people say that in the media and elsewhere. I've never lost any sleep due to DST my entire life. Go to bed earlier or wake up later.

To quote that one song on the oldies station...Easier, easier said than done!

People might not lose that hour of sleep on Saturday night, because they simply wake up an hour later by the clock on Sunday morning, although they slept the same amount of time.

But, it can take awhile to get your body clock adjusted. So if you if you try to force yourself to get to bed an hour earlier on Sunday night, you might have problems falling asleep. And whatever obligations you might have on Monday morning are going to come an hour earlier, according to your body clock.

 

[Time2]

I noted my wife didn't get out of bed until 5am to go for her run, she is usually up at 4:15. I guess she has started the adjustment.

 

[GenXguy]

To quote that one song on the oldies station...Easier, easier said than done!

People might not lose that hour of sleep on Saturday night, because they simply wake up an hour later by the clock on Sunday morning, although they slept the same amount of time.

But, it can take awhile to get your body clock adjusted. So if you if you try to force yourself to get to bed an hour earlier on Sunday night, you might have problems falling asleep. And whatever obligations you might have on Monday morning are going to come an hour earlier, according to your body clock.

I guess one reason it never affected me and didn't need to adjust was because my bedtime always varied most of my career, often by more than an hour from one day to the next, and I slept ok. So the time change occurring on a Sunday morning was nothing.... nor Monday morning.

 

[Time2]

It's the indecision that gripes me. Just PICK one, and stick with it! I don't care if we are forever on daylight savings time or forever not. The government needs to just be a grown-up for once and decide, and then stop messing with it for pete's sake.

I agree, stop changing it, but I want it to be set to Daylight saving time.
We live in CST but close to the EST time line. So when it is standard time, it gets dark too early. If we were near the Mountain time line, we would have an extra hour of daylight.

 

[Walt34]

I'm one of those people who worked rotating shift work for decades (rotating weekly). I don't notice half a day, sometimes more, variation in sleep. So all this complaining about changing one hour twice a year seems a bit much. I don't even notice it.

 

[Redbugdave]

I'm one of those people who worked rotating shift work for decades (rotating weekly). I don't notice half a day, sometimes more, variation in sleep. So all this complaining about changing one hour twice a year seems a bit much. I don't even notice it.

Yep...Me too. But I do like my 25 hour watch.

 

[MarieIG]

I did enjoy the extra daylight yesterday evening.

 

[MuirWannabe]

84 entries talking about an event that happens every year. Proving once again we can talk about anything around here. We must be retired or something.

 

[Dtail]

84 entries talking about an event that happens every year. Proving once again we can talk about anything around here. We must be retired or something.

Absolutely, but still lags the SS, pay off the mortgage, free Fidelity Turbo tax, OMG, etc discussions.

 

[Sojourner]

I despise going this direction (To Daylight Savings, losing an hour of sleep).

I would 100% vote to stay on Daylight Savings time all the time. Please. Pretty please.

I think it is part of the grand scheme to keep sheeple slightly miserable and off kilter. Dark magic.

I expect it’s the schoolchildren waiting in the dark early morning.

I agree, but (as usual) the powers that be are more focused on what's politically expedient than what makes sense for the general public. The data are very clear about a substantial increase in the number of heart attacks and traffic accidents on days right after the switch to DST. From the interwebs:

Research suggests an increase in heart attacks on the Monday following the switch to Daylight Saving Time. Studies indicate a rise of around 24% compared to other Mondays.

Fatal car accidents in the United States spike by 6% during the workweek following the "spring forward" to daylight saving time, resulting in about 28 additional deaths each year, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research.

I would challenge any politician to cite data that "children waiting for the school bus in the dark" is actually worse than many more people being stricken with heart attacks and getting into fatal car accidents right after the switch the DST.

 

[Andre1969]

I tried searching for "how many kids get injured at the bus stop" Maybe not the best wording, as it came back with "It looks like there aren't many great matches for your search"

The closest thing I could find was this... "Tragically, children are still at risk of being injured or killed at school bus stop accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), between 2007 and 2016, there were almost 300 school-age children killed in school-transportation accidents."

Now, any kid getting killed in an accident is a tragedy. However, 30 per year is pretty minor, in comparison to other things that kill kids. And of that 30, it doesn't say how many are killed specifically because they were waiting for the bus in the dark.

Here's another interesting tidbit, from another site...
"School bus-related crashes killed 108 people nationwide in 2021, up 50% compared to the pandemic-related low number of 54 deaths in 2020, according to National Safety Council (NSC) tabulations of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

From 2012 to 2021, about 70% of the deaths in school bus-related crashes were occupants of vehicles other than the school bus, and 16% were pedestrians. About 5% were school bus passengers, 5% were school bus drivers, and 3% were pedalcyclists."


So, it sounds like about 30 kids on average die waiting for the bus, and if 2021 is a "typical" year, another 5-6 on average, die ON the bus when it's involved in an accident.

So, it does sound to me like the damage from the DST change (28 in car accidents plus however many heart attacks) is much greater than what happens with kids waiting in the dark. However, the switch to DST makes some kids wait in the dark, anyway. My neighbors' kids catch the bus around 7:15am. Last week, it was fully light at 7:15am, since that's like 8:15 now. But at 7:15, the sun hasn't come up yet here, although it's fairly light. But I'm sure some kids earlier on that bus route might be waiting in the dark. Not pitch-black dark, but dark enough that it could obscure visibility somewhat.

I wonder though, if the ~30 per year stat includes kids walking to and from the bus stop, or just actually at the bus stop?

 

[Retch The Grate]

As usual I am very sad with the clock moving forward. I liked the extra light in the evening, and have no need for my day to start earlier. :/

 

[GenXguy]

As usual I am very sad with the clock moving forward. I liked the extra light in the evening, and have no need for my day to start earlier. :/

You have it backwards. The clock moving forward means there will be daylight later into the evening based on the clock. And it will be dark later into the morning by the clock.

I tried searching for "how many kids get injured at the bus stop

Well, as mentioned, school scheduled can be changed if that's really an issue. But full time DST would eliminate having to adjust to the time changes for people that are sensitive to it.

 

[Car-Guy]

I'm still adjusting to the new time. It took the dog one day to figure it out.

 

[Koolau]

We neither spring forward nor fall back. SO, since most of our TV programs are on a mainland schedule, they flip-flop for us. Fortunately, my DVR seems to adjust reasonably well. YMMV

 

[Sorcerer]

Didn't see a 2026 thread. I'm still feeling the change. Guess the older I get the harder it is for me to adjust.

 

[ModestNestEgg]

I must be weird, but I actually sleep better when we switch to Daylight savings time in the Spring. As in right after the changeover.

The moving the clock back in the Fall is what is brutal, but that may be because I'm still a worker bee and getting home in the dark, with the amount of daylight moving in the wrong direction.

 

[Ronstar]

I changed the clock in my truck on Sunday. Twice. Once before I changed the battery. And a second time after the battery change. Truck doesn’t like DST either.

 

[mystang52]

my take:

 

[RunningBum]

My cats have been thrown off. Sometime last year I got automated feeders, on a timer based on time of day, not hours since last time it opened. They usually start pacing around the feeder about 30 minutes before it goes off. I don't know if their stomach tells them it's about time, or where the sun is when it opens (I realize this changes too, but very slowly and they can adjust to that easily), but I don't think they can read even a digital clock. This week they've sometimes been elsewhere in the house when it opens and dings. You don't want to be between them and the feeder when that happens!

I could change it to be an hour earlier in the spring+summer, but I'd have to remember to change it back in the fall. Besides, it's been amusing to me. Maybe in the fall I'll move it up an hour.

I like the feeder because they don't harass me to get up in the morning, plus it makes vacations easier, as I just need someone to come refill the feeders daily.

 

[Koolau]

Fortunately my DVR adjusted all the programs I record since we don't change time. I slept like a baby.

 

[hesperus]

It feels like we just got through this not too long ago, yet once again, this weekend one hour of our lives is merciless torn from us without compensation. Daylight Saving Time is back.

For y’all with analog clocks, don’t forget to turn them ahead tonight. For everyone with digital clocks, remember when you wake up tomorrow morning you didn’t get as much sleep as the clock would indicate, at that explains why you’ll be so groggy and grouchy all day.

Every year it feels the same. That first morning after the clock change is rough and it takes a few days for your sleep to feel normal again. I always forget about one random clock in the house too and end up confused for half the day.

 

[jollystomper]

Every year the impact is less and less for us. We now have very few devices with time that do not automatically adjust. That includes our cars, and there is a slight moment of hesitation the first time after a time change. But then we look at our phones or watches, and all is well.

 

[audreyh1]

Basically we set our wake-up alarm to 7:30 instead of 6:30. So no difference with respect to the sunrise. We periodically adjust our wake-up alarm to be ~15 mins before sunrise throughout the year.