Spring Forward – Daylight Savings Time

Last weekend, somewhere in the middle of Saturday night, Daylight Saving time occurred. We’ve all heard the phrase to help us remember- “Spring forward, fall back”, but what is really the purpose of all this sleep pattern interruption? For most of the United States, Daylight Saving time begins at two a.m. on the first Sunday of April. Daylight Savings time is not observed in Hawaii, parts of Indiana, and most of Arizona. Europe has its own version of savings time. One of the main reasons we change our clocks is to conserve energy. The demand for energy and electricity are directly related to the hours in which we are awake. The average American turns off most of his or her electric supplies during late evening. In the average home, twenty-five percent of all the electricity we use is for lighting and small appliances, such as TVs, VCRs and stereos. By moving the clock ahead one hour, there becomes a shorter time frame between sunset and the time we go to bed, and energy is preserved. According to the United States Department of Transportation, Americans save one percent of the average energy used each day during daylight savings time. Another reason energy is conserved is that Americans spend less time at home on average during the summer months than winter ones. According to a recent poll by the Department of Transportation, Americans still like Daylight Saving Time because it allows for more light and more activity in the evenings. Daylight Saving Time during the spring works to “save up” energy for the darker winter months. November, December, January and February are the four darkest months of the year. During these months people use more energy because it is dark early in the morning and early in the evening. Daylight Saving Time is a change in the standard time of each time zone. Time zones were first used by railroads in the late 1800’s during the early days of the transcontinental railroad to allow for a more stable schedule. Prior to railroads, cities and regions set their time according to astronomic conditions in their local sky. Benjamin Franklin was the first to come up with the idea of a need for daylight conservation in 1784. He published an essay entitled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light.” His intention of the piece was based on the need to preserve oil and wax, as well as allow alteration in time for more hours of farm and production activities. His essay was nearly forgotten until Englishman William Willett suggested it once more in 1907. His plan was a little different. He wanted to move clocks four times during the year in twenty minute intervals. Sir Sandford Flemming of Canada is credited with adopting the standard time zone format. He set up an International Prime Meridian Conference in Washington in 1884, which set the system of standardized time that is still used today. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 is the American law that states the rules of time change. This law does not require that everyone follow the time changes, but ensures that the ones that do follow the same guides. Between 1945 and 1966, there were no laws at all regulating Daylight Saving Time. Because regions adjusted time how they wanted, it is easy to imagine how close to impossible catching buses or television programs would be. Every time a region changed its time, new schedules had to be planned. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 gave America a set of standardized rules to follow. The last changes were in 1986, which set the time changes at the first Sundays of April and October. The United States Department of Transportation repeatedly runs tests to determine the actual value of Daylight Saving Time. They estimate that in March and April the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day are saved- a total of 600, 000 barrels in two years. Daylight Saving time prevents accidents and saves lives. By adjusting the clocks, the majority of Americans are traveling home during daylight hours, increasing visibility and driver-passenger safety for at least half of travel time. Daylight Saving does little for the morning drive however. The Department of Transportation estimates that fifty lives are saved and 2,000 accidents prevented in March and April, saving around $28 million. Because Americans get home earlier, they have time to run errands during daylight hours. This reduces the exposure to crime, which most often takes place during dark hours. As annoying as losing an hour of sleep may have been for some of us last week, it is a small sacrifice we can make to help reduce energy consumption as well as save lives (don’t forget you’ll get that EXTRA hour of sleep come next semester). Now get out there and enjoy these lighter days!