Daylight savings time has been implemented in the United States since World War I. There currently is only one state in the continental US that does not use DST and that is Arizona.
The main reason the US implemented DTS was to save money and conserve on energy. It was not for the farmers benefits. That is a myth. As a matter of fact, the farmers were against the change in time because of the negative effects it had on the market crops and dairy farms.
There is very little evidence that Daylight Saving Time actually saves on energy and according to the National Bureau of Economic Research they show that there is an increase in electricity bills and a social costs because of increased pollution emission.
The National Geographic states “Changing our clocks twice a year doesn’t save us energy or money”
With all the controversy over the years regarding DTS, there is one thing we do know for certain and that is it can have tragic effects with our health and safety.
According to the Insurance Journal , fatal crashes increase by about 6 percent over the 6 days immediately following the spring transition, but did not occur in the fall transition because there was no loss of an hour.
Reuters has an article from March 29, 2014, that showed a study that there is an increase in heart attacks of 25% the Monday following the turn back of the clocks. There are other articles in Consumer Health Day, Live Science, and so on, that have the same supporting data.
While the debate continues on DTS, we all should do our research, get the facts and understand some of the life changing effects Daylight Saving Time can have on us.
