zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
Daylights Savings Time Causes Fatal Car Crashes to Rise, So Why Do We Still Do It?
Daylights Savings Time Causes Fatal Car Crashes to Rise, So Why Do We Still Do It?-April 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:58

Close-up of a car clock featuring the Chrysler logo in Walnut Creek, California, USA, October 23, 2020.

Well friends, here we are after once again losing an hour of sleep to the tyranny of daylight savings time. Last year, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill to end our . So what happened?

Politics is a strange business sometimes, even when there is the ultra rare show of solidarity from both sides of the aisle. Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced the in the Senate last year, and it passed unanimously through the chamber. When the bill hit the House however, it lost traction and wasn’t even brought to a vote in the 117th Congress. Rubio reintroduced the legislation on March 2.

“This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid. Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done,” Rubio said via .

For once, Sen. Rubio and I are in total agreement — this relic from WWI is a blight on the American public and needs to end. From a six percent rise in car crashes to over , rates for all sorts of accidents rise in the week after we spring forward or fall bad. Heart attacks also spike some 24 percent in the week following the hour shift, reports.

Rubio’s bill would make Daylights Savings Time permanent — that is, time wouldn’t change, but Americans would experience later sunrises and sunsets for four months out of the year. While the bill has plenty of supporters, there are some detractors as well. Some say we should apply standard time without change, reports:

Last year, there were at least across state legislatures that would make Daylight Saving Time year-round if a federal law passes.

But as there seems to be a bipartisan push to make this change permanent, some experts say that could harm Americans. Research by the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms that there are greater advantages to making standard time permanent, as opposed to Daylight Saving Time.

Implementing a permanent switch to Daylight Saving Time would harm our bodies because it would increase the difference between the social clock and the body clock. Doing so, they say, is “associated with decreased life expectancy, shorten[ed] sleep, cause mental and cognitive problems, and contribute to the many sleep disturbances in our societies that are estimated to cost approximately 2% of the gross domestic product.”

It’s not just GDP losses Americans experience during Daylight Savings Time. The switch is a well-known menace to our ability to concentrate. Fatal car crashes and car crash injuries spike during Daylight Savings Time due mainly to an increase in drowsy driving, which causes 16 to 21 percent of all fatal crashes, according to .

It’s not just car-on-car violence humans have to fear due to Daylight Savings Time. Deer strikes also go up during the switch overs. Permanent Daylight Savings Time could save the lives of and 2,054 human injuries and 33 deaths, reports, and that’s just from deer crashes.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I love tiny, of . I have a that is roughly half the size of a normal cat, and she’s perfect. I own a 2013 , which is like the miniature version of a normal-sized vehicle (at least here in Texas) — but beyond that, I also own a Hot...
Apr 22, 2025
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
MotorWeek’s is some of the on the internet. The long-running automotive news magazine has a treasure trove of tests after being on the air for over 40 years. Where else can you find detailed instrumented testing of long-forgotten cars like the or a ? MotorWeek’s recent Retro Review upload is...
Apr 22, 2025
Subaru Had It Right All Along
Subaru Had It Right All Along
When first came to the United States, it sold small funky cars that were decidedly un-American. As the company grew its own identity and became more established in the U.S., it became the first automaker to offer an all-wheel-drive passenger car in 1975. Subaru was also an early-adopter of...
Apr 22, 2025
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
closed its São Bernardo Plant in November 2023, marking the end of its first overseas production facility. The closure caps off a period of continuous car production in São Paolo, , lasting over 60 years. The plant was home to a Komatsu 700-ton press that predates itself. And now...
Apr 22, 2025
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
At long last, we are about to get behind the wheel of for the first time. Sure, , and sure, , and sure , but hey — what can you do? Anyway, before we get behind the wheel of this three-row electric beast, we want to know what you...
Apr 22, 2025
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I have two automotive loves: The first is the Miata, the second is off-road racing. For a while I raced air-cooled Volkswagens in the deserts of California and Nevada and I was lucky enough to co-drive in a class 11 stock bug in the Baja 1000 a few years...
Apr 22, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved