Daylight Savings Time is a pain for many Ohioans. They have the potentially huge task of turning their clocks forward or back an hour. If it's springtime, they lose an hour of their precious weekend, and have to wait until fall to gain it back. Daylight Savings Time also affects motorists in some ways - in fact, the time change causes an increase in automobile accidents. Read on to learn more about this effect.
A study looked at fatal car accidents over a 21-year period. Researchers looked at the Saturday, Sunday and Monday shift for each year and specifically compared the ones correlating to Daylight Savings Time in the spring and fall.
The research showed that in the spring, there was a huge increase in fatal accidents on the Monday after Daylight Savings Time due to the lost hour. The results were the same for the Sunday on which the fall Daylight Savings Time occurs. The majority of the accidents happened overnight and early those Sunday mornings, suggesting that increased alcohol consumption due to people staying up later might play a role in the increase in traffic accidents and subsequent deaths. There were no major changes on the other days.
A car accident can cause a serious injury or even death. No matter what time of the day - or year - it is, it's important for motorists to always be alert when behind the wheel. If the loss of the hour in the spring negatively affects one's driving, then it's advisable to get adequate rest before operating a motor vehicle. Although a one-hour loss may not seem significant to many people, it can seriously effect one's circadian rhythms.
Source: PubMed.gov, "Fatal accidents following changes in daylight savings time: the American experience," accessed Mar. 29, 2015
No Comments