Why daylight saving time is a good thing in the NW (Seattle: home, middle school)

[pnwguy2]

I see that some of our legislators are trying to get rid of daylight saving time in Washington. Here is why this is wrong:

The current summer solstice daylight saving time sunrise in Western WA is about 5:11am, and the sunset is 9:11pm. (based on Seattle's latitude).

Going to a year-round standard time would obviously change those times to 4:11am for the sunrise and 8:11pm for the sunset. The obvious question is who needs additional daylight at 4 in the morning?

And who wants to lose an hour of evening daylight when Western Washington generally gets its best weather?

Keep DST. Or at the very least, go to DST year 'round, and it wouldn't get dark at 4:15pm at the winter solstice.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

I see that some of our legislators are trying to get rid of daylight saving time in Washington. Here is why this is wrong:

The current summer solstice daylight saving time sunrise in Western WA is about 5:11am, and the sunset is 9:11pm. (based on Seattle's latitude).

Going to a year-round standard time would obviously change those times to 4:11am for the sunrise and 8:11pm for the sunset. The obvious question is who needs additional daylight at 4 in the morning?

And who wants to lose an hour of evening daylight when Western Washington generally gets its best weather?

Keep DST. Or at the very least, go to DST year 'round, and it wouldn't get dark at 4:15pm at the winter solstice.

Completely agree.

What possible reasoning is there for getting rid of DST? Are people so lazy now that it's too much of a pain to manually change a few clocks? Most cell phones and internet-connected devices even do it themselves now-a-days...

[Diana Holbrook]

We can stay on Daylight Savings time if you like... we just need to stop switching back and forth.

[Hemlock140]

I don’t care either way which we stay on, or if we change back and forth. Since I get up at 4am and leave for work before 5 it would be nice to have light earlier. At night, I see no need for light after 8pm, since you can’t or at least shouldn’t do anything noisy outside that late. Having a nice fire out on the patio could start earlier, it’s not the same when still light.

[Haakon]

Originally Posted by PS90

Completely agree.

What possible reasoning is there for getting rid of DST? Are people so lazy now that it's too much of a pain to manually change a few clocks? Most cell phones and internet-connected devices even do it themselves now-a-days...

Daylight Saving Time is deadly: heart attacks and car crashes spike - Business Insider

If it saves one life it's worth it, right? That's the usual argument people in Seattle make for certain subjects.

I think most people would be fine keeping DST, it's the switch that people don't like, and in some cases that is literally killing people.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

I don’t care either way which we stay on, or if we change back and forth. Since I get up at 4am and leave for work before 5 it would be nice to have light earlier. At night, I see no need for light after 8pm, since you can’t or at least shouldn’t do anything noisy outside that late. Having a nice fire out on the patio could start earlier, it’s not the same when still light.

Around here, we routinely cut hay in the evenings because it's often way too hot to do it in the middle of the day. For some of us, like me, who don't have fancy tractors with lights and stuff, that's about the only option and the daylight from roughly 7pm to 10pm is critical.

I realize, though, that this is probably not a common problem for the more urban areas of the state.

Personally, I just don't see a big stress-inducer about the clock change, but if that's enough to be causing hardship with some people, then I would be okay if we just kept DST permanently.

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by PS90

Around here, we routinely cut hay in the evenings because it's often way too hot to do it in the middle of the day. For some of us, like me, who don't have fancy tractors with lights and stuff, that's about the only option and the daylight from roughly 7pm to 10pm is critical.

I realize, though, that this is probably not a common problem for the more urban areas of the state.

Personally, I just don't see a big stress-inducer about the clock change, but if that's enough to be causing hardship with some people, then I would be okay if we just kept DST permanently.

It doesn't matter what time it is when we cut hay! The number of hours in the day, and the temperatures in the evening, are exactly the same.

Farmers don't care, our animals don't care, the hay doesn't care. It only makes a difference to those who live and work by the clock.

[texasdiver]

Parent of 3 kids here:

DST is very nice for after school sports in the spring and fall. Two of my kids do fall and spring soccer which occur during DST months. Without DST it would be getting dark way too early to have early evening practices outdoors which is mostly what we have to do. Practices are usually held 6-7 pm because that is the earliest that some parents can get home from work, get their kids ready, and drive over to practice. It isn't really practical or possible to expect parents to leave work earlier just because their kids have after school sports. Back in the day there used to be more school sports at the younger grades and perhaps we could have soccer and other sports run by the schools right after school. But that usually doesn't start until middle school so the elementary kids would be out of luck.

During mid-winter if we stayed on DST the kids would all be walking to school in pitch dark in most of Washington. My girls wait for the bus outside but many kids have to walk to school and there aren't always good sidewalks. So switching back to standard time in winter is a reasonable idea. Sure, we could always have schools start later, but then again the issue of what do parents do who have to go to work when their kids don't start school until 9 or 10 in the morning?

So basically from a parent point of view, the current system seems like the best compromise.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Parent of 3 kids here:

DST is very nice for after school sports in the spring and fall. Two of my kids do fall and spring soccer which occur during DST months. Without DST it would be getting dark way too early to have early evening practices outdoors which is mostly what we have to do. Practices are usually held 6-7 pm because that is the earliest that some parents can get home from work, get their kids ready, and drive over to practice. It isn't really practical or possible to expect parents to leave work earlier just because their kids have after school sports. Back in the day there used to be more school sports at the younger grades and perhaps we could have soccer and other sports run by the schools right after school. But that usually doesn't start until middle school so the elementary kids would be out of luck.

During mid-winter if we stayed on DST the kids would all be walking to school in pitch dark in most of Washington. My girls wait for the bus outside but many kids have to walk to school and there aren't always good sidewalks. So switching back to standard time in winter is a reasonable idea. Sure, we could always have schools start later, but then again the issue of what do parents do who have to go to work when their kids don't start school until 9 or 10 in the morning?

So basically from a parent point of view, the current system seems like the best compromise.

Your point is well taken. I remember in the energy crisis (1973-74) both WA and the entire country went to year round Daylight Saving Time. I have clear memories of walking to school in complete darkness during this time. At age 14, I didn't think anything of it, just some governmental decision that I would deal with. I, and most others, survived just fine.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...fter-43-years/

[Jiff]

I'm fine with DST the way it is. I don't like the idea of DST all year. Standard time is preferable to DST as an all year choice. Noon is meant to be the time the sun is at its highest point and sundial shadows point due north, coinciding with the short hand of a clock pointing straight up. To enjoy more light during summer, get up earlier and have activities start earlier.