Letters to the Editor: Daylight saving time is ‘stupid time.’ Let’s have year-round standard time
To the editor: In 2018, California voters chose to end the semiannual clock-changing tradition, but the problem was that people weren’t clear on which tradition to keep. The stupidity of switching clocks twice a year should end, but why does The Times’ editorial board think that we should stick with daylight saving time year-round?
In Southern California, the difference between daylight hours in winter and summer is about four hours. That means that there are about 10 hours of daylight in the winter and about 14 in the summer. In more northerly latitudes, the difference is greater. No amount of legislation changes that. Just like cutting off one end of the blanket to sew it onto the other end, nothing is gained.
In these days of flexible working schedules and people working from home, we don’t need the rigidity of legislation requiring the whole country always to keep daylight saving time. I keep standard time year-round, and when “stupid time” starts, I just do things an hour earlier.
If you believe that the majority should rule over the minority, then why not put it to a vote as to which tradition to keep? Standard time, or daylight saving time? I will keep standard time no matter what.
Michael Kember, Van Nuys
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To the editor: I don’t understand the angst associated with moving clocks to optimize daylight throughout the year. An hour is just one time zone, like visiting Las Vegas or Denver. Do people really have so much difficulty traveling to nearby places?
We tried year-around daylight saving time in the 1970s. Seemed like a good idea, but then people ran into the reality that depending on location, sunrise in winter happened at 8 a.m. or even later. Children went to school in the dark.
People hated it, wrote to their legislators, and we quickly went back to changing our clocks. It’s a compromise, but it gives us sunrise at an hour when we want to wake up in winter, while giving the benefit of lighter evenings in the summer.
Roberta Fox, Costa Mesa
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To the editor: I don’t mind changing my clocks twice a year. It’s a small price for the compromise between those who want more daylight in the spring and summer and those who want 12 noon to match the natural high point of the sun during the day.
When you think about it, during daylight saving time, we’re actually getting up an hour earlier. This is out of whack with our circadian rhythm. Also, it means masses of drivers on the road earlier, translating into more crashes and more roadkill.
Maybe we should spare animals crossing roads in the pre-dawn mornings and follow our natural circadian rhythm.
Kathleen Trinity, Acton
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To the editor: Not everyone believes changing our clocks is an odd tradition. I am one of them. Here in Southern California, it is the only seasonal change we can count on.
Your editorial board (and obviously Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, author of a year-round daylight saving bill) supposes that everyone’s circadian rhythm is the same. Not so. It is not easy to relax, slow down and get ready for bed when the sun is still high in the sky. Just ask any parent of a school-age child.
More on point, there are so many more American health issues that Congress should be working on. Deal with those first. Springing forward and falling back is peanuts when you consider what is making us tired, causing us stress and putting dangerous drivers on the road.
Gail Winkles, Whittier
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Anyone enamored of daylight saving time can take control themselves. Get up one hour earlier all winter and enjoy those dark mornings.
Proposals for year-round daylight saving time run counter to the claims that teenagers need to start school later. The result will be schools needing to start even later in the winter, thus defeating all the supposed gains from the later sunrise.
Keith Price, Los Angeles
