Daylight Saving Time is Here and That Means Spring!

Daylight Saving Time is Here and That Means Spring!

It was 6:45 p.m. Sunday evening and it wasn’t dark. I was thrilled! Daylight saving time (DST) started it’s 8-month run earlier that day at 2 a.m. while celebrating its 100^th birthday in the United States. I always look forward to the longer days. I feel like I get so much more accomplished with the additional daylight and the desire to fall asleep in the evening diminishes. I won’t deny there is a bit of an initial adjustment in that the mornings aren’t nearly as bright, but that doesn’t bother me nearly as much as dusk at 5 p.m.

According to USA Today, daylight saving time was first enacted by the federal government March 19, 1918, during World War I as a way to conserve coal. Although it was halted nationally later that year, it persisted in some form at local or state levels for decades before being finally being recognized again nationally in 1966 by the Uniform Time Act.

The Department of Transportation (DoT) is in charge of daylight saving time and all time zones in the U.S. because time standards are important for many modes of transportation. Daylight saving is observed because it saves energy as lights and household appliance are used less during that time, saves lives by preventing traffic accidents because people are driving more during daylight hours and reduces crime because people are out during the daylight and not at night when more crime occurs.

In 2007, the federal government expanded daylight saving time and it now accounts for about 65 percent of the year. However, individual states have the final say as to whether to opt out of DST.

Whether you love the time change or could do without it, DST is a reminder that spring is just around the corner.