So, we’re back on Daylight Saving Time already. As it turns out, one can oppose DST and not, surprisingly, be too dumb to set one’s clocks. From reading some of our leading columnists over the years, I had come across the impression that clock-o-phobia is the only plausible reason for opposing Daylight Saving Time.
This has been bandied about before, but with less and less of the year spent on “Standard” time, what’s the argument for switching to “Standard” time for the months of November, December, January, and February? If it’s o.k. to have sunrise not occur until 8 a.m., why not 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.? Think of all the “extra” hours of light. In the course of the DST debate, I don’t believe I’ve once heard the Indy Star or the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette or any of the other proponents of Eastern Daylight Time discuss the “extra” hour of darkness in the morning. That leads me to believe it’s not relevant to the debate.
I have to say that today it wasn’t a consideration. My lovely wife got up with the kids, and I slept in until 8:45 a.m. (EDT). I woke up to a bright sun-shiny morning. But, I’m going to hazard a guess that this will not be an option during the week — the courts and my clients likely won’t be quite so accommodating.
I think the best situation for Indiana would be if the entire nation went on year round Daylight Saving Time, and we switched the whole state to be on year round Central Daylight Time (which would look an awful lot like year round Eastern Standard Time.)
Doug,
GREAT,GREAT post.I’m so tired of being told by coumnists that I’m too lazy and stupid to move the clocks in my home and the clocks on my various other electronic devices.
Now that the lawmakers on the Federal level have decided to extend DST we have three smart clocks that have to be advanced now manually where before they did not and of course come April they will advance automatically and have to be turned back a hour.All of which I believe I am capable of doing.
As I have stated thousnads of times on this blog in SW Indiana the big debate is time zones and Governor Daniels dreaded time zone wall and the fact no one wants it in their backyard!This fact just doesn’t seem to sink in to the columnist although the Evansville Courier seems to get it because they’re in this neck of the woods.
Good point about how these people seem to ignore the unusually late sunrises on Eastern DST.They always bring up traffic safety as a reason for having extra light well into the evening but when you consider the late sunrises on Eastern Daylight time they never mention that as a potential safety hazzard.I guess they think no one has to be out driving that time of the morning going to work or school.
Remeber though the Governor says DST is a great economic benefit for the state and a big jobs creator!A editorial yesterday in the Vincennes Sun Commercial took the Governor to task on the issue of DST saying there was no evidence of energy savings,jobs being created,or economic benefit to the state observing DST.
Phillip-
“They always bring up traffic safety as a reason for having extra light well into the evening”- traffic mishaps hit a peak nationwide the Monday afternoon after the change to DST. The authors of the study which found this effect attributed the peak to driver fatigue which is accentuated in the afternoon. After all, all that extra light should have prevented those accidents. There seems to have been a small corresponding dip in the fall after the switch back to standard time (shouldn’t have all that “early” darkness brought on a rash of accidents?).
It strikes me that the fatigue factor should contribute to higher afternoon accident rates whenever people are staying up too late (are people really getting to bed any earlier when there is a big sporting event on TV? No they stay up ’til it finishes whether they are on ET or CT). But on EDT they are compelled to get up in the dark the “morning” after.
My conclusion?
DST means carnage.
Amen to that. I didn’t have to be in to work until 10:00 a.m. yesterday morning, so it was already daylight, but that won’t be an option today. With sunrise coming in Louisville today at 8:00 a.m. it will just be getting light when I go to work.
Put us all on Central Daylight year round. In the winter, there’s less daylight. Some of the lost light should come from the morning, and some should come from the evening. In roughly equal parts, as nature apparently intended but which we’ve tried to counteract with additions and subtractions of an hour whenever the government deems it appropriate.
T: Or year-round EST. ;-) Those were the days my friend.We thought they’d never end…
Doug: People who are , out golfing, shopping, eating at DQ until 10:00 p.m., probably don’t have to be at work until 10:00 a.m. Late sunrises don’t affect people who can set their own hours. ;-)