It’s that time of year again. Daylight Savings Time (DST) ends at 2:00am Sunday. Before going to bed Saturday night be sure and roll your clocks back one hour.
Daylight Savings Time was started by Congress during World War I and used again in World War II as a way to save energy. However, a 2008 US Department of Energy study found that DST only reduces overall energy consumption by 0.03 percent. A more recent study found it may actually increase energy usage.
However the real price could be with our health. A British study conducted three years ago found longer summer days led to children exercising by 10 percent more and the spring forward adjustment contributed to a 10 percent increased risk of having a heart attack.
A New England Journal of Medicine report in 1996 claimed there was an 8 percent increase in traffic accidents on the Monday following the spring adjustment.
The best news is the Fall change, where will get an extra hour of sleep Saturday night and Sunday morning, also makes the roadways about 8 percent safer the following Monday. And the risk of heart attacks also fell in the Fall.
According to the Brookings Institution, when DST begins in the Spring, robbery rates for the entire fall 7 percent.
Reports DST began to help farmers gets crops out of the fields is a myth.
A Rasmussen poll found that only 1 out of 3 Americans still support DST. The majority found it is no longer worth the trouble.
At least two websites have started online petition drives seeking to repeal DST.
Regardless of whether you support DST, local fire departments encourage you to take the time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors this weekend as you change your clocks.
