Most of the United States switches over to Daylight Savings Time (DST) tonight. It originated to make better use of daylight during the summer months because we were largely an agrarian society. This is no longer the case. The need for DST has long since disappeared. We have electricity and indoor lighting. DST creates havoc for families with autistic children. Emergency rooms
report an uptick in patients with strokes and heart attacks following
the time change. There is an uptick in vehicle accidents during the week
following the spring change ("spring forward") because people are tired due
to the sleep pattern changes.
We currently have a few states that currently do not recognize DST - Hawaii and Arizona, except for the Navajo Indian Reservation, which does. Our US Territories do not recognize it either. Rep. Jim Nielson, R-Bountiful, sponsored HB-199 in this legislature that would eliminate DST observance for Utah. Unfortunately, this bill was killed in committee. So, we still have to contend with DST in 2012. It is my hope that the bill is reintroduced in the next session.
As you can see, I am NOT a fan of DST. I dread it every year.
No comments:
Post a Comment