What Would Happen If We Got Rid Of Daylight Savings Time?

We use the term Daylight Savings Time (DST) to refer to the time when the clocks are moved forward one hour in March. This is commonly referred to as "springing forward". Daylight Savings Time then ends when we move the clocks back one hour in November, or "fall back". During that period, we are in Daylight Savings Time as opposed to Standard Time.

New Zealand entomologist George Hudson formally proposed the idea for Daylight Savings Time in the late 1800s, but it wasn't until World War I, from 1914 through 1918, that it first caught on in Europe. It was seen as a way to save on energy by lengthening the daylight hours in the evening. The United States implemented the Uniform Time Act of 1966 for Daylight Savings Time, and today, most of the states in the U.S. still observe DST, except for Hawaii and some parts of Arizona.

What would happen, then, if we got rid of Daylight Savings Time? Research suggests that there might be fewer car accidents and fewer health problems, ranging from insomnia and anxiety to strokes and heart attacks. A world without DST would keep our bodies' natural rhythms more aligned with Earth's own seasonal cycles. That said, not everyone is in favor of ending DST.

One of the big issues of DST is how it messes with our bodies' natural circadian rhythms, or our sleep-wake cycle. It's our bodies' biological clock that releases melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleep, in the evening. Then it decreases the amount as it is time to wake up. Changing the time interrupts your body's natural sleep-wake cycle, leading to symptoms such as tiredness, anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping. It's similar to the symptoms you might experience after sleeping with the TV on all night.

Daylight Savings Time is also associated with worse health consequences than just feeling tired and upset. The week following the DST shift, there is a rise in fatal car crashes and accident-related injuries. There is also a rise in strokes, heart attacks, and mental health issues.

If Daylight Savings Time was eliminated, then our bodies would be able to retain their natural sleep cycles. The rise in negative health consequences and vehicle accidents that follow DST would also potentially subside. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports getting rid of DST. It even formed the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time in 2023 to help make these benefits a reality.

Those in favor of keeping the time change argue that in the summer, we get an extra hour of daylight in the evening, so we can stay outside after work and have fun longer. They also argue that the time change keeps the mornings brighter so that those who commute to work or school early aren't driving or walking in darkness.

It is worth noting, however, that the lengthening of days in the summer and shortening in the winter is just the natural cycle of Earth, and there's only so much you can do to try to fight it. Changes like enabling people to work remotely or attending classes online remove the need for a commute that is dependent on sunlight. It also makes for sunnier evenings, which gives people more time to enjoy the sun after work. These days, there are even gadgets that make working from home easier than ever, but some organizations are still opposed to it.

There has been plenty of legislative action that attempts to stop the clocks from switching, but no federal law has been passed yet. One hurdle is the indecision over whether to keep Standard Time or DST. If we keep Standard Time, it keeps our bodies' cycles more in sync with Earth's rotation. Whichever we choose, there are still widespread health, wellness, and safety benefits to eliminating the time change altogether.