I hate the twice-yearly time changes, especially the “spring forward.”
A new study suggests that making daylight saving permanent would reduce the number of wildlife collisions, potentially saving thousands of deer and human lives.
The study, published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology estimated that up to 36,550 deer deaths, 33 human deaths and 2,054 human injuries could be prevented annually by halting the switch from daylight saving to standard time in the autumn. Permanent daylight saving time would allow for more light during peak traffic hours.”We were surprised at the magnitude of the results,” said Laura Prugh, an associate wildlife science professor at University of Washington who helped author the study.
The switch would reduce the rush hour traffic when it is dark.
“Wildlife-vehicle collisions are a huge and growing problem,” Calum Cunningham, University of Washington researcher, said in a statement. “These are social costs — people killed and injured — and it’s also a conservation problem as it’s one of the largest sources of human-caused mortality of wildlife.”…Researchers said deer-collision numbers would drop if human activity is reduced during deer activity. The study found deer collisions were “14 times more frequent two hours after sunset than two hours before sunset.” It also found deer collisions spike in the fall when most states switch to standard time and deer activity increases during their mating season.
The ending to the regular time changes is one of the few issues popular across all party lines. A measure was approved in the US Senate earlier this year.
In March, the Senate weighed in, unanimously voting in favor of the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent year-round for all states but Hawaii and most of Arizona, which would continue to observe year-round standard time. But the bill has stalled in the House.”There’s some strong science behind it that is now showing and making people aware of the harm that clock-switching has,” Rubio said on the Senate floor in March.Indeed, a 2020 study found that fatal traffic accidents in the U.S. rose 6% in the week after daylight saving started. Other studies have found that the switch to daylight saving brings small increases in workplace injuries and medical errors in the days following the change. A 2019 study, meanwhile, found that the risk of heart attacks went up in the week after clocks sprung forward, though other research did not find such an increase.
But for the time being, remember we “fall back” one hour this Sunday.
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