Is "Daylight Savings" worth the grief?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
While there always was some mechanism to account for longer sun lit days in summer, we never had a national event.. Our Daylight Savings is a WWI initiative to save coal, which never went away. The effects are rather 50/50. But the not so great effects of the time shift are undeniable-confusion. "DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment. " The supposedly good effects are somewhat less easy to justify. So, what do you think? Is "Daylight Savings" worth the grief?
 

No grief for me, I'm okay with it, gets darker earlier in winter and stays light longer in spring. I already have my clocks set, one hour is not that much of a change in relation to sleep either. I love the four seasons, and to me this is just part of it. I guess it may cause confusion with businesses, but I'm not confused at all.
 
When I was working, it seemed like there was always a couple of days of "adjustment" before I got used to the change, but in retirement, I no longer live by the clock...unless I have an early morning appointment. I really don't see much need for this time change. About the Only reason I've heard that makes any sense is the "setting back" the clocks in the Fall/Winter so school kids don't have to walk or wait for the bus when it is somewhat dark in the mornings.
 

Personally I like it. Since I don't drive in the dark any more it gives me more freedom to go to early evening events & get home before its pitch dark.
I've heard though, that on the Monday after either setting forward or back there are more traffic accidents than normal.
 
Don't know the full effects in a multi-time zone country but here in the UK it does have effects.

In Scotland in particular children not only go to school in darkness, but also come home in it when they are more excited and traffic is heavier. The accident rate goes up anyway and it would soar without DST.

It also makes a deal of difference to those affected by natural cycles, like farmers.

The point about being introduced because of war is a good one. Perhaps we could get rid of income tax, introduced to buy ships to fight Napoleon, at the same time!
 
Laurie said:
Don't know the full effects in a multi-time zone country but here in the UK it does have effects.

In Scotland in particular children not only go to school in darkness, but also come home in it when they are more excited and traffic is heavier. The accident rate goes up anyway and it would soar without DST.

It also makes a deal of difference to those affected by natural cycles, like farmers.

The point about being introduced because of war is a good one. Perhaps we could get rid of income tax, introduced to buy ships to fight Napoleon, at the same time!
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I'm trying to understand about going to school in darkness and coming home in darkness. Moving the clock ahead should mean less darkness in the evening hours. At 4 o clock here in the summer it's never dark. The kids can go out and play for an extra hour before it gets dark.

As far as farmers are concerned it makes no difference to them. They rise with the sun and quit when it's dark regardless of the clock.

For retired people it should not make any difference. You don't have to change the clock. Who cares?
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Most of the planet does not use DST, and they haven't fallen off the deep end.
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While I suppose your statement is technically true, a vast majority of North America, Western Europe, Australia's more populated southeast, New Zealand, Brazil, and Chili do observe it. Which of the remaining fabulously successful large countries do you recommend we emulate and why?
 
I always thought DST was developed to give the farmers an extra hour in the summer to get their crops in.

Pennsylvania right now is considering dropping DST. Personally, I enjoy the extra hour of daylight. It’s kind of ironic for me. When I flew as a pilot for United, I would rather fly at night.

Actually, I think most pilots prefer to fly at night. At night, we can see thunderstorms a few hundred miles away thanks to the lightning, we can also see other aircraft several miles away, (even though all planes are equipped with TCAS*), also the runway lights are better to see at night. Oh, yeah, there is also less traffic in the air at night. All are important issues.

*TCAS stands for “Traffic Collision Avoidance System.” When two planes are headed on a collision course with one another, each plane will get an alert about 12-15 miles apart. One plane will get the verbal command to “Climb, Climb” while the other plane will get the order to “Descend, Descend.” Even if the air traffic controller would give each plane the opposite command, ALL pilots are instructed to follow the command of TCAS. There was an accident years back when two planes collided because one plane followed the TCAS command and one pilot followed the ATC command.

Sorry for going off topic. Like I always say, when I start talking aviation, I don’t know when to shut up.
 
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The fact that rest of the planet does not observe DST, without ill effects, calls into question its usefulness. Most its supposed benefits are due to the rotation of the earth. .The evenings will have more lit hours, as the earth rotates, regardless of DST. At the poles and the equator, DST makes no sense, and applies to a narrow band in the North and South. I always though DST was a way to save energy, but nobody can point to any proven energy savings. I could never understand why WE have to observe DST, when farmers can just get up earlier to tend to their fields in the light. My question is why do we do this? Is it just a matter of tradition, since the benefits are so iffy.
 
Doesn't bother me at all to reset our eight clocks. Seven in our apartment and the one in our vehicle. Thing is, some of our clocks are very easy to reset. Just reset the hour. Other clocks, like our microwave and stove clocks have to have the entire time reset. When our electricity goes out for a minute, I have to completely reset, as in hour and minutes, all clocks. But, I get it done.

We really like the extra time at night with light. If my wife feels like it, we will take a walk around our complex.
 
I'd like to see us keep DST year round. :) It doesn't change the number of hours of light. Nature is fixed. It's just when it gets dark for whom.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I liked it when I was working but now that I'm retired it makes absolutely no difference to me.
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Doesnt affect me either except maybe this week ill have less time to relax with my coffee. I usually go to Curves at 7:30 am but I can change that to whenever I want but I have an ophthalmologist appt on Wednesday...very early and traffic to get there is a nightmare.

After that...I’m good.
 
I hate it. Big nuisance, as far as I am concerned.

There was an article in the paper about many states working to get rid of it completely. I wonder, what if that happened, but only for some states? Not only would we all be in different time zones, we couldn't even figure out what time it was in any other state.
 
Sunny said:
I hate it. Big nuisance, as far as I am concerned.

There was an article in the paper about many states working to get rid of it completely. I wonder, what if that happened, but only for some states? Not only would we all be in different time zones, we couldn't even figure out what time it was in any other state.
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Agree...all states should be the same...confusing enough sometimes with our time zones.

When we lived in Merrillville, Indiana...we had DST but Lafayette, Indiana where my son went to Purdue University didn’t and it was only a 1.5 hr drive from our house.

it was weird!!
 
Not a problem for me, most appliances change automatically and I just
change the rest. That is except for the car, have never had the patience
to change clock in car, so just leave it as is.
 

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