Patch Poll: Time to Stop the Clock on Daylight Savings Time?

At least three states – Michigan, Alaska and Texas – are considering ditching Daylight Saving Time. (Photo by Kaja Koziowaska via Flicker/Creative Commons)

» Get Patch in your email.

Enough of the biannual spring forward and fall back ritual says a Michigan lawmaker who aims to eliminate Daylight Saving Time with a proposal introduced in the House Wednesday.

Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, cited, among other documentation, a University of Michigan study that showed a spike in heart attacks on the Monday after the time change. Also, he said, though Daylight Saving Time is touted as an energy conservation measure, Indiana actually saw an increase after that state adopted the time change in 2006.

Irwin’s proposed legislation would direct the state to follow the standard time zone in which the state is located.

He isn’t alone in wanting to wash his hands of the practice – for example, the Alaska Senate voted to eliminate DST this week and a Texas proposal to ax the time change was sent to committee – nor is the argument new.

Daylight Saving Time has been part of the American conversation since Benjamin Franklin’s Day and is even older yet. Before clocks, ancient civilizations adjusted their work schedules to coincide with the sun’s clocks.

In the U.S., President Woodrow Wilson signed “fast time” into law in 1918 to support the World War I, the initiative sparked by a Pittsburgh industrialist, Robert Garland, who is known as “the father of Daylight Saving.”

Also on Patch:

• Study: Check Your Pulse with Spring Forward to Daylight Savings Time

The experiment with the seasonal adjustment was repealed seven months later, though some cities – Pittsburgh, Boston and New York – continued to observe it.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed “War Time” into law. The concept was the same as today’s DST, but with only three time zones, which were relabeled “Peace Time” after the surrender of Japan in 1945.

In the years following, localities were free to observe DST or not, creating widespread confusion in the travel and communication industries. To put an end to the chaos, Congress passed the the Uniform Time Act of 1966, but with a local-control proviso that has allowed states to chart their own course. Currently, Arizona and Hawaii are the only states not to observe DST.

Some adjustments have been made over time, including extensions of DST to 10 months in 1974 and eight months in 1975 to save energy – amounting to the equivalent of 10,000 barrels a day – after the 1973 oil embargo.

The primary complaint about the extended DST observance was that dark mornings in fall and winter months created dangerous conditions for young children walking or waiting for the bus to take them to school.

Tell Us:

• Should DST continue as it is, should we revert back to standardized time zones, or should DST be observed year round? Take the poll and talk to us in the comments.