When I woke up this morning and it was pitch black, I was getting really mad at daylight saving time. I mean, it's great when we gain an hour, but losing one? It feels horrible.
Being that we are not an agricultural economy anymore, sometimes I really wonder why we go through all of this. Well, aside from the benefit of it not being broad daylight at 5 AM in the morning in June, daylight saving time to this day still saves energy and lives. According to IHlaw.com:
"What many do not know is that Daylight Saving Time also reduces traffic accidents and deaths. The 1970 [D.O.T.] study also showed DST reduced traffic accidents, saving 50 lives and about 2,000 injuries in March and April of the years studied. We have no definitive current data, but with the many more highways and miles of other roadways in our country today, one would expect even more significant reductions.
A study last year re-confirmed that Daylight Saving Time prevents automobile accidents. Published in The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy (Vol. 7, Issue 1, Article 11), Short and Long Run Effects of Daylight Saving Time on Fatal Automobile Crashes says:
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DST has no significant detrimental effect on automobile crashes in the short run;
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DST significantly reduces automobile crashes in the long run with an 8-11% fall in crashes involving pedestrians, and a 6-10% fall in crashes for vehicular occupants in the weeks after the spring shift to DST."
You know what? If it saves energy and lives, I think it's a pretty good idea...though, I can't wait until I get that hour back.
