Star poll: Most prefer permanent Daylight Savings time

Locals support idea of “ditching the switch” and adopting “permanent Daylight Savings Time”

State legislation passed earlier this year would put a stop to changing clocks.

Locals do not like switching their clocks twice a year between Daylight Savings and Standard Time, if an online Star poll is an indication.

Daylight Savings ended on Nov. 3 when we rolled our clocks back an hour for what could be the last time we “fall back.”

Daylight Savings Time moves an hour of daylight in the sunnier seasons, spring and summer, when the sun is out longer, from the morning to the evening.

In the darker fall and winter months, when the sun is out less, that hour is returned to the morning by rolling the clocks back an hour.

A sunset that was at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 2 is then at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 3.

Legislation signed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year to permanently adopt Daylight Savings Time, in other words to “spring forward” but not “fall back” an hour, still requires the OK from Congress on the federal level, with President Trump saying he supports the idea.

A poll conducted by The Star revealed that people were in support of the idea, with nearly 90 percent liking the idea of springing ahead and leaving it at that. Seventeen out of 19 respondents said they preferred staying on permanent Daylight Savings Time to falling back and not springing forward an hour (two respondents preferred that).

Zero respondents wanted to continue to switch the clocks twice a year, the way things currently are.

Seventeen preferred having an extra hour of daylight in the evening while two preferred extra daylight in the morning.

One respondent wrote that it took about two weeks to acclimate to the time change both in the spring and in the fall. “During that period, I know I am less productive at almost everything I do,” they wrote.

“It is a nightmare,” another wrote. “For weeks after I am out of sink with everything.....I HATE the change!!! Just pick one and keep the time there.....I would prefer standard time, but for the love of god, pick one!!!”

“Coming home in the dark affects my mood for the rest of the evening and makes it difficult to enjoy outdoor activities with my children,” another wrote. “Fall back restricts evening activities.”

Several respondents noted negative effects on their childrens’ routines.

Effects on sleep, mood, and health were other common complaints to the time change.

Potential benefits of adopting permanent Daylight Savings Time included “More personal and professional productivity,” according to one respondent. “Less battles with sunrise and sunset during my commute (safer). More time to get things done in the evenings later into the year and earlier in the year.”

More time for outdoor activities, such as hiking, or chores, was seen as a potential plus by multiple respondents.

According to a recent KING5 news article “thirty-six other states have either had bills passed or proposed to make daylight saving time permanent. Hawaii and Arizona are the two states who use standard time.”

Those other states include Oregon and California, the other Pacific Standard Time states, and so a change, if adopted, could keep the West Coast consistent.

An article on timeanddate.com on the health effects of switching the clocks twice a year notes studies that found links between the time switch and increased heart attacks, an increase in traffic accidents due to tiredness, and links to depression.