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Lawmaker hopes upcoming daylight savings will be Tennessee's last

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  • Lawmaker hopes upcoming daylight savings will be Tennessee's last

    Lawmaker hopes upcoming daylight savings will be Tennessee's last

    March 7th, 2014 9:34 pm by TONY CASEY

    Lawmaker hopes upcoming daylight savings will be Tennessee's last
    When Tennesseans spring ahead this weekend, it could be the last time they change clocks.

    That is, if a bill sponsored by state Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, goes through. Todd’s bill calls for the state to stay on daylight saving time all year round. As usual, people are advised to set their clocks ahead one hour as the time change goes into affect at 2 a.m. Sunday. If the bill is written into law, it would be the last time adjustments would be made and no more clock changes would occur.

    The bill was originally set to be voted on late this month, but has since been delayed.

    A representative said although that’s not a good sign, he said the bill is still “healthy.” The biggest, and only complaint against the bill, Todd’s representative said, was children in rural areas who might be waiting for a school bus on two-lane highways in the dark, which could be a potentially dangerous situation. He said safety is a No. 1 concern of Todd’s office, and they’ve looked into the matter. Only time will tell if it has the momentum to move forward.

    Changing the clocks traditionally come a small cost, in the way of sleep patterns, especially those in certain age ranges.

    “If you are well-rested, even an hour change in your routine can leave you feeling temporarily sleep-deprived. If you are already sleep-deprived, the one hour just compounds the problem,” said Theresa Lee, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Lee conducts research on sleep patterns over the life cycle, and how sleep patterns and the need for sleep vary by age.

    At a recent forum held on sleep, Lee emphasized the benefits of quality sleep patterns, even during time changes. She said if you have sound sleep habits, it shouldn’t take very long for you to adjust to daylight saving time. A fixed bedtime and time to awake, even on weekends, only using your bed for sleeping, no napping during the day, keeping a dark and cool sleeping space, and avoidance of electronics leading up to bedtime, should make things move smoothly, she said.

    Those who don’t have the most optimum sleep patterns, Lee said, could suffer from a dangerous performance hindrance. Being awake for 18 hours straight effects performance to the same level as carrying a blood alcohol level of .05 percent and .10 BAC for someone who’s gone 24 hours without sleep. Research shows that fatigue caused by a lack of sleep is believed to account for about half of all motor vehicle accidents.

    Age comes into play because many younger and older people tend to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier, where as those in between often go to bed later and sleep in later.
    I hope this gets passed and then every state does it! A lot of those of us who work inside find ourselves basically seeing no sunlight during our free time in the winter. It's dark going in and coming home during the work week.

    Read more: Lawmaker hopes upcoming daylight savings will be Tennessee's last | Johnson City Press http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/arti...#ixzz2vNNGvrp6
    Follow us: @JCPress on Twitter | JohnsonCityPress on Facebook
    "Alexa, slaughter the fatted calf."

  • #2
    It's unlikely to get very far this time around. Such is the nature of the Tennessee legislature: most bills get started at least two or three times, thus in two or three different sessions, before they gain traction. This is mostly due to our rather laborious committee process, which is just not built for speed, and indeed is somewhat intentionally set up to slow down the lawmaking process. So typically a bill gets introduced, and then gets sent to X committee, where it waits for a couple or three months for a hearing, and then goes on to the next committee, where it waits a couple more months for a hearing, and so forth, and then the session is gaveled closed and everything that had been submitted dies. The next session, one submits the bill again, and it will usually go through the first couple of committees pretty quickly because it's already been there before, then slows down in a couple more committees down the line. Rinse and repeat. So most bills don't see the actual floor of the chamber until 2-3 years after they're originally introduced.

    For the most part, I'm fine with no longer going through the tedium of re-setting clocks and watches every few months. One potential pitfall I see with this is that the eastern third of the state is on Eastern time and points west of the Cumberland Plateau are on Central time. This law would mean that for the fall and winter, the eastern part of the state would actually be an hour ahead of the east coast. That creates a "time pinch" for people in Knoxville who are doing business with people in New York and Miami and Philadelphia and such. Not insurmountable, but it can definitely be a hassle for them.

    Personally, I'd probably rather just have the whole country abandon DST. I just don't buy that there's really any energy savings there, particularly in today's 24-hour world. In the '40s and '50s, when virtually nothing was open overnight, it might have made a difference (and I remain dubious about that), but these days, that 24-hour gas station is going to turn its lights on when it gets dark, not when the clock says so.
    It's been ten years since that lonely day I left you
    In the morning rain, smoking gun in hand
    Ten lonely years but how my heart, it still remembers
    Pray for me, momma, I'm a gypsy now

    Comment


    • #3
      I have never understood the "for the school kids" argument.
      Around here, buses pick up between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. It is just now beginning to get light at that time, so what happens?
      We begin DST and they are plunged back into waiting for the bus in the dark.
      Which brings me to pet peeve number 1384.
      It is and has always been Daylight Saving Time (no "s" on Saving) based on some concept that by moving the clock we are somehow saving daylight as there would be less hours of it had we not manipulated a timepiece.
      It is not and has never been Daylight Savings Time (with a "s" on Saving) because as far as I know, I do not get any particular price break or financial gain if I purchase something between the time of sunrise and sunset.
      We are so fucked.

      Comment


      • #4
        If kids are going to school in the dark, then the school day is starting too early. Period.
        The year's at the spring
        And day's at the morn;
        Morning's at seven;
        The hill-side's dew-pearled;
        The lark's on the wing;
        The snail's on the thorn:
        God's in his heaven—
        All's right with the world!

        Comment


        • #5
          The real reason kids wait in the dark for school busses has nothing to do with Daylight Savings. It's because we are bussing too many kids too far to go to school. Kids who go to neighborhood schools should be able to walk to school unless there is a major reason not to.
          The year's at the spring
          And day's at the morn;
          Morning's at seven;
          The hill-side's dew-pearled;
          The lark's on the wing;
          The snail's on the thorn:
          God's in his heaven—
          All's right with the world!

          Comment


          • #6
            Blahhhhh!!!!!Crap!

            Comment


            • #7
              I'm all for dismantling DST. This upcoming Monday will likely be the deadliest day of the entire season on the roads as most people need three days to fully adjust to the change. Farmers and schoolkids have these things now called "lights" that let them see in the dark, so they don't need us manipulating time & space to make them think they have more sunlight than they really do.
              “Any sufficiently advanced capitalism is indistinguishable from rent seeking.” ~ =j

              Comment


              • #8
                This year's DST has been brought to you by Duracell. Please change your smoke alarm batteries.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Novaheart View Post
                  The real reason kids wait in the dark for school busses has nothing to do with Daylight Savings. It's because we are bussing too many kids too far to go to school. Kids who go to neighborhood schools should be able to walk to school unless there is a major reason not to.
                  Snowflakes. Laziness.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Adam View Post
                    Personally, I'd probably rather just have the whole country abandon DST.
                    Dang sure lots of us too.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Edit: my reply was entirely too political.
                      It's been ten years since that lonely day I left you
                      In the morning rain, smoking gun in hand
                      Ten lonely years but how my heart, it still remembers
                      Pray for me, momma, I'm a gypsy now

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        My neighbors' roosters must be blind. The noisy bastards woke me up as it's nice enough to sleep with the windows open here.

                        I thought the roosters knew about the time change???? It's still dark here and they started in at about 3:40 AM

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Novaheart View Post
                          The real reason kids wait in the dark for school busses has nothing to do with Daylight Savings. It's because we are bussing too many kids too far to go to school. Kids who go to neighborhood schools should be able to walk to school unless there is a major reason not to.

                          My current rural town is 25 square miles and contains 36K residents. So it's really spread out. A lot of school busses. A couple of the elementary schools are in areas with not many homes nearby.

                          Growing up I think the rule was if you lived less then a mile from the school you had to walk.

                          First grade was about a mile and a half walk (or bike ride), not a huge deal. Small rural town with sidewalks. I never remember having to walk in the dark. For Kindergarten we were bussed to a town about 15 miles away and then in first grade they had to bus us to that same town as our school had no cafeteria.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Novaheart View Post
                            If kids are going to school in the dark, then the school day is starting too early. Period.
                            Here they start early due to the extreme afternoon heat.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by RobJohnson View Post
                              Growing up I think the rule was if you lived less then a mile from the school you had to walk.
                              Not any more. Walking kid would be picked up by the police. Parents would be in big trouble with CPS.
                              Walked to elementary school. Middle school and high school too far away.

                              Comment

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