We gotta get rid of this stupid time change in the fall. I looked outside today around 5pm and it was as dark as midnight. I couldn’t tell the difference.
What’s frustrating is that legislative bodies across North America have already voted to get rid of daylight savings time. Some of these resolutions were passed years ago. In the United States, even the Senate has passed a bill which would get rid of the time change. Unfortunately, the bill is stuck in Congress, where no progress has been made. For better or for worse, if the US doesn’t make the change, then other jurisdictions won’t either, in fear of being out of sync with the US.
The crazy thing is, some medical experts think the US bill is bad for people in general because the bill wants to make daylight savings time permanent. That is, the bill wants everyone to do the spring forward time change in March and keep it there. Some medical people say this is not desired because our circadian rhythms are actually better matched with the sun setting super early like it does now. They argue it would be healthier this way for everyone.
I question such statements because how is this good for anyone? Because of the time change over the weekend, most people who commute home in the early evening now have to do the commute with no natural light. Think about how many more accidents happen at night where artificial light is the only light available to see other vehicles and pedestrians. How many people die every year because driving home in the dark makes it that much more dangerous?
Also, how depressing is it for people to get up before sunrise, commute to work in darkness, work all day, and then commute home in darkness as well? That’s supposed to be healthy for you? That’s actually a huge morale hit. Before the time change this weekend, most people would see at least a bit of the last daylight on their commutes home.
Congress needs to get off their asses and get this bill passed and see if we can get everyone organized for next year.