Adjusting clocks to standard time from daylight-saving time is a hazard for drivers and pedestrians, according to officials.
“The biggest thing is the sunshine factor in the morning and the evening,” Alexandria police spokeswoman Amy Bertsch said. “There are times of the day when the sun is so strong, people aren’t used to it, and it literally changes overnight.”
Because it gets darker earlier, motorists are encouraged to “be more aware” of their surroundings, Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo said.
The added hour of daylight during the morning drive tends to decrease vehicle crashes, and the added twilight at night sees an increase in crashes, according to Arlington’s Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“When we go from daylight-savings time to standard time, more people die on our roads, which is why people have recommended we expand daylight-savings time longer and start it earlier in the spring,” said Sue Ferguson, a researcher for the institute. She added pedestrian fatalities would see dramatic decreases if the time were changed permanently.
Beginning in 2007, daylight-savings time will be extended by one month thanks to new federal regulations to save energy. Clocks will jump forward an hour on the second Sunday in March. Clocks will fall back an hour on the first Sunday of November next year. Between 1986 and 2006, daylight-savings time began on the first Sunday of April to the last Sunday in October.
“Over a five-year period, we estimated that about 900 fatal crashes could be avoided if daylight-savings time were year round,”said Ferguson. Of those 900 crashes, 727 were pedestrian fatalities, she said. “We calculated an extra week in the fall and three in the spring [to make an extended daylight-saving time], you’d save an additional 250 lives over that five-year period.”
