Argumentative Essay On Daylight Saving Time

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Since the beginning, humans have always had a natural aversion to the dark. Even electricity was invented to find an easier way to keep darkness at bay when inside. It is therefore not surprising that humans take advantage of the daylight as much as possible. One such way this is done is through the system of daylight saving time, which allows for a better match up with the longer hours of sunlight during the summer. Daylight saving time (DST) occurs between the months of March and November when clocks advance by one hour in March and then fall back one hour in November. A shift of only one hour may not seem that influential, but DST is still the source of a lot of controversy. Nonetheless, in the conflict between its benefits and drawbacks, …show more content…

Lack of visibility puts someone on edge because their perceived sense of danger increases. Both of these factors can lead someone to do something at night that they wouldn’t do during the day. The shift in time due to DST better aligns daylight with people’s normal hours of activity. People returning from work, for example, can do so when it is still light. All of this helps explain a Department of Transportation study that found that “violent crime in Washington, D.C., was reduced by 10 to 13 percent during periods of daylight saving time” (Prerau 1). There are many places that are desperately trying to decrease their crime rates, and if such a drastic change can be achieved by simply shifting time forward an hour, it makes sense that this system should be continued. Crime, however, is not the only danger that can stem from darkness. When examining data on fatal pedestrian crashes during the Fall PM2 hour, an hour that is light during daylight saving time but dark without it, there is a spike from around 25 fatal crashes the week before the end of daylight saving time to almost 125 crashes the week after (Ferguson et al.,

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