Archive: Around Town

Spring Ahead, Fall Behind.  That's how you remember to set your clocks twice a year, and it's time to remember this weekend!  This year Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday, March 11, 2012, 2:00am, and ends Sunday, November 4, 2012, 2:00am.

The purpose of Daylight Savings Time is to take advantage of as much sunshine in the summer months as possible.  Studies by the US Department of Transportation have shown that it saves energy, because it affects how much people have their lights turned on in their homes.

Indiana was a holdout, but when the DOT estimated residents there would save $7 million in energy costs the state acquiesced.  Since they did researchers now say they are spending more, not less, possibly because of additional air conditioner usage, which might not apply in cooler climes.

Other research shows that pedestrians are three times more likely to be hit by cars right after we spring ahead than they are in the month before we fall behind.

The idea originally came from Benjamin Franklin when he proposed it in an essay in 1784. In 1918 it was made official in the US.  For more information about the quirky tradition, see webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/.

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