Comments on: A vote against changing clocks http://www.eriksmartt.com/blog/archives/103 my little chunk of bandwidth Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:52:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4-alpha-19814 By: M. J. Rodgers http://www.eriksmartt.com/blog/archives/103#comment-31461 M. J. Rodgers Fri, 09 Mar 2007 23:21:11 +0000 http://www.eriksmartt.com/blog/archives/103#comment-31461 What hasn't been addressed here - or anywhere else - is the most important problem with DST. It kills people. Every year the switch to DST results in increased traffic accidents and lost lives as sleep-deprived Americans get in their cars (and behind the control of school busses) and run into one another on the way to work. This year will be even worse because of the decision to force DST during winter when icy roads will contribute to even more fatalities. And don't kid yourselves that if you make it to the hospital after an accident, you'll be all right. Sleep-deprived health care personnel will be attending you. And as any study will verify, they make double the mistakes. As do the pilots who will be behind the controls of all the aircraft. What hasn’t been addressed here – or anywhere else – is the most important problem with DST. It kills people.

Every year the switch to DST results in increased traffic accidents and lost lives as sleep-deprived Americans get in their cars (and behind the control of school busses) and run into one another on the way to work. This year will be even worse because of the decision to force DST during winter when icy roads will contribute to even more fatalities.

And don’t kid yourselves that if you make it to the hospital after an accident, you’ll be all right. Sleep-deprived health care personnel will be attending you. And as any study will verify, they make double the mistakes. As do the pilots who will be behind the controls of all the aircraft.

]]> By: erik http://www.eriksmartt.com/blog/archives/103#comment-7 erik Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:01:26 +0000 http://www.eriksmartt.com/blog/archives/103#comment-7 But if there were no time zones at all (or, just one time zone to rule them all I guess), wouldn't catching a train be even easier? If you left at 1pm on a 30 minute ride, you'd know that you could catch the 1:45pm from wherever that next stop may be. You wouldn't have to know about time zone changes -- just time. But if there were no time zones at all (or, just one time zone to rule them all I guess), wouldn’t catching a train be even easier? If you left at 1pm on a 30 minute ride, you’d know that you could catch the 1:45pm from wherever that next stop may be. You wouldn’t have to know about time zone changes — just time.

]]> By: David Engel http://www.eriksmartt.com/blog/archives/103#comment-6 David Engel Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:10:18 +0000 http://www.eriksmartt.com/blog/archives/103#comment-6 Time zones -- in the United States, at least -- were set up to benefit rail commuters at the turn of the 20th century (if I am remembering correctly) because without a standard time arrangement, it was very difficult to plan connections. You could leave Washington at 1:00 for Baltimore (30 minutes away) and arrive in time for the 1:15 to New York. Imagine the possible confusion that might be today if you got on a plane in Dallas at 3:00 for Chicago and arrived at 3:00, or you left New York at 7:00 for Los Angeles and arrived at 7:00. Talk about serious jet-lag. Time zones — in the United States, at least — were set up to benefit rail commuters at the turn of the 20th century (if I am remembering correctly) because without a standard time arrangement, it was very difficult to plan connections. You could leave Washington at 1:00 for Baltimore (30 minutes away) and arrive in time for the 1:15 to New York.

Imagine the possible confusion that might be today if you got on a plane in Dallas at 3:00 for Chicago and arrived at 3:00, or you left New York at 7:00 for Los Angeles and arrived at 7:00. Talk about serious jet-lag.

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