Do You Know What Time it is, Right Now?

March 08, 2009

Daylight Saving Time went into effect today, and my family spent a good half-hour at breakfast discussing how we have more or less sunshine during the day as a result of the time change. Have you set your clocks forward? Even the clocks in your car?

The additional hour of light is credited with saving energy, cutting crime, and making roads safer.

All I know for certain is that the sun was BLINDING me at 7:45 on the way to church this morning, and that I will be driving STRAIGHT INTO THE BLINDING SUN every morning for the next few weeks as I drive my kids to school.

Daylight savings comes into effect when we “Spring forward” on the second Sunday of March each year and ends when we “Fall back” on the first Sunday in November. Benjamin Franklin was the first to propose a voluntary time shift, and various parts of the United States have optionally implemented Daylight Saving Time since Daylight Saving Time legislation first became law in 1918 – as part of the Federal Act, which also established our national Standard Time Zones.

According to Buhl Planetarium “Many municipalities did continue to use Daylight Saving Time, and many did not. And, the beginning and ending dates, each year, of Daylight Saving Time often varied from one community to another. This became very confusing, and very costly for some industries--particularly transportation industries such as the railroads, bus companies, and airlines, and also for radio and television broadcasters.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson finally enacted the Uniform Time Act of 1966, to set standard beginning and ending dates for Daylight Saving Time across the United States.

I’m feeling a little under the weather right now, and am blaming the cold medicine for why it’s so difficult for me to figure out how changing the clocks gives us more hours of sun. Even my six-year-old seems to understand it better than me. Right now, I think I’d be happier if I lived in Arizona or Hawaii, where they don’t have to adjust their clocks backwards or forwards twice a year.

Regardless of where you live, be sure to take extra care when driving in residential neighborhoods and approaching intersections and stop signs as you adjust to the change in your sun perspective. Be sure to advise your children to be extra careful if they’re walking in a parking lot or crossing the street with the sun behind them, as they might be difficult to see to motorists who might have the sun in their eyes. And keep those sunglasses handy!