Trump endorses year-round Daylight Savings Time

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

We should go back to year round standard time.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Why not just go to standard time all the time and then just shift everyone’s schedules back an hour? Times should actually mean something.

I would be okay with that, Trump's proposal, or the status quo. Personally, that extra hour of light in the evening is crucial for mental health purposes. Finishing the day when it's already dark is extremely depressing and just awful.

Yep, this is another reason I prefer DST to standard time. In DST the sun sets at 4:30 or so here during the winter, and if we were on standard time, that would kick it back to 3:30.  Dark evenings are much worse than dark mornings, as people tend to be more alert in the mornings and overall in less of a rush and not as tired. There is also the mental health effects, but speaking solely about safety, having the majority of the evening commute in northern cities such as Chicago, NYC, Seattle, etc, in the dark would be much worse than the morning commute being dark.

Late afternoon and evening (the hours when most commuters are heading home) rank as the most dangerous times to drive. In fact, in 2013, a whopping 16 percent of fatal accidents happened between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The other most fatal time wasn't statistically far behind — 31 percent of fatal accidents occurred between 6 p.m. and midnight.

This data is also on record with other reputable sources, but I'm on my phone. If we're going to stick to the same schedules and time zones but don't want the ridiculous back and forth, DST puts light at the time it is more necessary, which is when the majority are heading home, rather than heading out.

No, it wouldn't.  You're already on standard time in the winter.  Your sunset would still be at 4:30.

[Lachi]

Nah, as someone who works outside in the evenings a lot, and who lives in the furnace that is Australia, I'd rather not have that extra hour of sun in the evening that keeps it from starting to cool down.

[emailking]

Might be easier for everyone to just be on one time, and adjust open hours locally. We all run on GST, but on the east coast school is from 300 to 1100, whereas on the west coast it's from 600 to 1300 or however that math works.

Agreed, I wish the whole world would use zulu/UTC time.

[Sirius_]

Wrong way!

Nah, as someone who works outside in the evenings a lot, and who lives in the furnace that is Australia, I'd rather not have that extra hour of sun in the evening that keeps it from starting to cool down.

As a southerner who lives in a furnace as well, I totally agree.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Might be easier for everyone to just be on one time, and adjust open hours locally. We all run on GST, but on the east coast school is from 300 to 1100, whereas on the west coast it's from 600 to 1300 or however that math works.

Agreed, I wish the whole world would use zulu/UTC time.

As someone who works for a multinational company and deals with people from all over the world, I would love this idea.  We're always running into time difference confusion, and the patchwork of DST/Summer Time rules make it worse.  Example: normally I'm 6 hours behind a colleague in Germany.  But for a few weeks each year (like right now) the difference is only 5 because the EU starts Summer Time later in the year than US DST (and ends it earlier).

But I suspect that this plan would be far too "unnatural" for the average person to deal with.  "What do you mean it's 5 p.m.?  The sun is straight overhead!  It's noon!"

[Sirius_]

Dark evenings are much worse than dark mornings, as people tend to be more alert in the mornings and overall in less of a rush and not as tired.

I am most certainly more tired, less alert, and in more of a rush in the morning, and I'm sure many would agree.

[Koharu]

Might be easier for everyone to just be on one time, and adjust open hours locally. We all run on GST, but on the east coast school is from 300 to 1100, whereas on the west coast it's from 600 to 1300 or however that math works.

Agreed, I wish the whole world would use zulu/UTC time.

As someone who works for a multinational company and deals with people from all over the world, I would love this idea.  We're always running into time difference confusion, and the patchwork of DST/Summer Time rules make it worse.  Example: normally I'm 6 hours behind a colleague in Germany.  But for a few weeks each year (like right now) the difference is only 5 because the EU starts Summer Time later in the year than US DST (and ends it earlier).

But I suspect that this plan would be far too "unnatural" for the average person to deal with.  "What do you mean it's 5 p.m.?  The sun is straight overhead!  It's noon!"

Yep, this is why it is actually my preferred solution, but also why I think it less likely than switching to year round DST or year round standard time. Also, thanks on the 430 vs330 correction earlier. I do think people would adapt to a global time faster than most would think, but I don't deny it would be disorienting for a while. But with our increasingly globalized world, it would help many people communicate much more efficiently, and save a lot of hassle in computer programming of various sorts.

[Koharu]

Dark evenings are much worse than dark mornings, as people tend to be more alert in the mornings and overall in less of a rush and not as tired.

I am most certainly more tired, less alert, and in more of a rush in the morning, and I'm sure many would agree.

Unfortunately, the statistics don't hold this out. Evening rush hour, starting at 3pm, is much more dangerous than the morning rush. Evenings after rush are also more dangerous than mornings.

[°Leprechaun]

Why not just chose the middle way? Put clocks back 1/2 hour. Wouldn't that solve the problem?
Year round standard time would be better than DST, but any change would be welcome.
The current practice is just dumb.

edit:
Also the current calendar is dumb. February should have 30 days, for example, and we don't need a seven day week, either.

[Mr.Phips]

We should go back to year round standard time.

Yes we should.  This should have been done a long time ago.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

FF move, 4pm winter sunsets are for chumps.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I will admit that part of my liking this has to do with being on the eastern edge of my timezone.  One of the only things I don't like about this area is the relatively early sunsets.  I have seen proposals to move Middle Tennessee to Eastern Time, but I don't fully want that either because I like being able to watch sports on a worknight and still get a good night's sleep.  That would be more difficult if we were ET.  But, moving to year-round CDT would at least be a nice compromise.

Even if this doesn't happen nationally, I think it would make a ton of sense for Tennessee as we are far enough South that the super late sunsets wouldn't happen and as we are on the eastern edge of the Central Time Zone.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I will admit that part of my liking this has to do with being on the eastern edge of my timezone.  One of the only things I don't like about this area is the relatively early sunsets.  I have seen proposals to move Middle Tennessee to Eastern Time, but I don't fully want that either because I like being able to watch sports on a worknight and still get a good night's sleep.  That would be more difficult if we were ET.  But, moving to year-round CDT would at least be a nice compromise.

Even if this doesn't happen nationally, I think it would make a ton of sense for Tennessee as we are far enough South that the super late sunsets wouldn't happen and as we are on the eastern edge of the Central Time Zone.

If time zones were defined only by longitude, which would best match "sun time", Central Time should be centered on 90 W and run from 82.5 W to 97.5 W.  Nashville is around 87 W, so you're in the correct zone by that (admittedly arbitrary) measure. 

Atlanta, at 84 W, should move to Central instead of Eastern, which by this standard would run from 67.5 W to 82.5 W.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Permanent STANDARD time would be MUCH better

No it doesnt, due to increased daylight in Summer

[SingingAnalyst]

I support year-round DST, and I say this knowing full well that in early January, the sun would rise as late as 9:30 AM in parts of my state.

I have lived in Boston, and it was so depressing to walk outside on late November afternoons, at 3:55 PM or so, and see the sun almost gone.

Perhaps additional steps could be taken to keep schoolkids safe while walking to school or waiting for the bus in absolute blackness?

[Hammy]

Daylight savings should be ended permanently if anything.