Daylight saving time may not be right time for America

Don’t feel bad if you are grabbing an extra cup of coffee or yawning as you read this.

This editorial is not that boring.

You may be tired because it can take up to a week for our bodies to adjust after setting our clocks one hour ahead for daylight saving time.

The U.S. Senate also “sprung forward” on Tuesday, unanimously approving a measure that would make daylight saving time permanent across the country next year.

The bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act may feel like a ray of light. Most Americans dread fiddling with their clocks as they switch back and forth between standard and daylight saving time every year, a recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows.

Extra daylight hours would mean less seasonal depression, extended time outdoors and more money for businesses, supporters of the bill have argued.

Scientists also agree that a fixed, year-round time is greatly needed.

The abrupt change from standard to daylight saving time has been tied to the increased risk of heart attacks, mood disorders and car crashes, data has shown.

But it is standard time — not daylight saving time — that health experts have been advocating for as a lasting solution.

The Darien-based American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a statement following the Senate vote, reiterating its 2020 stance that “current evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety.”

Forty-three percent of Americans also favor staying on standard time year-round, while 32% would prefer to stay on daylight saving time, the AP-NORC survey revealed.

House members, who have yet to vote on the bill, shouldn’t act as hastily as their Senate counterparts. They should consider the research before making daylight saving time a full-time reality.

They should also take time to remember the past.

In light of the oil embargo, President Richard Nixon in 1973 signed a bill to put the country on daylight saving time for two years in order save fuel. The law, with the backing of most Americans, went into effect in January 1974. Ten months later, Congress amended the act, and standard time returned.

Americans quickly soured on the concept of permanent daylight saving time when they realized that later sunsets also meant later sunrises.

Morning commutes in the dark were bad enough for adults, but children were also forced to make their way to school in pitch black surroundings, sometimes leading to traffic accidents.

If the Sunshine Protection Act becomes law, we’d be spared from switching our clocks twice a year. But we might find ourselves turning back the hands of time in our response.

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