New Michigan Bill Seeks to Observe Permanent Daylight Saving Time, End Clock Changes

Well here we are again, in Daylight Savings time as of 2am Sunday morning. I know many people who dislike the twice yearly time change, new legislation seeks to stop this event permanently. The majority of the United States began observing the daylight savings time tradition back in 1966. The idea is to move time one hour forward in the Spring, and one hour back in the fall, with the goal being to preserve daylight hours. This idea was actually introduced in the early 1900s, and permanently adopted in 1966.

In this day and age the countries that still use daylight savings time really don’t save any energy, which was the original intent. There have been reports of an increased risk of heart attacks and car accidents caused by the lost hour of sleep. Some states have already been talking about eliminating it, and now Michigan has joined the coalition.

Michigan has joined 15 states that have officially passed a resolution, or enacted legislation requiring us to observe daylight savings time year round, and no longer change clocks twice a year.

ClickonDetroit reports On Wednesday, March 10, Michigan state Senator Jeff Irwin, who represents Michigan’s 18th Senate district, introduced a bill designed to do just the same: “end the Spring Forward and Fall Back once and for all,” a press release from Wednesday reads. “Twice a year, we volunteer Michiganians for more car accidents and injuries at work. We see lower productivity and an increased number of heart attacks and strokes, as well as a noticeable uptick in general crankiness,” Sen. Irwin said. “The twice a year time change has no benefits for our state, and we should stop doing it immediately.”

As an individual state we do have the option to exempt our state from daylight savings time, but not permanently. It would require federal action and congress to permit states to make that change. Most states that have made this move, are now just in a wait and see mode until a federal mandate is made.

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Daylight savings time does not exist exclusively in the United States. North America and Europe are primary observers of DST, you will also find parts of Australia and South America using this concept.

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