Karmactive Staff
Most Americans change their clocks twice a year. But Texas and Kentucky might soon stop this practice. Their lawmakers say clock changes hurt people’s health and make daily life harder.
In Texas, two different plans are being discussed. Senator Judith Zaffirini wants Texas to keep standard time all year. This means winter-style time would stay year-round. Representative Will Metcalf has another idea. He wants to keep summer-style time, called daylight saving time, all year. Right now, federal law only allows states to choose standard time.
“Clock changes cause more car crashes and health problems,” Zaffirini explains. She points to real studies showing these risks. Studies from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health confirm more traffic accidents happen during time changes. Medical research shows heart attack risks increase by 24% on the Monday after spring time change.
Kentucky is also trying to stop clock changes. Their plan would start on October 31, 2025. Representative Steven Doan says it’s time to “lock the clock” and end this “ridiculous practice.”
The changes affect everyone’s daily routine. Studies show time changes particularly affect children and elderly people, as noted by Dr. Earnest from Texas A&M. “The key factor is that whatever that time is that you’re on is regular from day to day, week to week, month to month,” explains David Earnest from Texas A&M.
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Most Americans want to stop changing clocks. A recent survey shows only 25% want to keep things as they are. The rest want to pick one time and stick with it. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine survey, 50% support ending time changes, while 24% are unsure.
The economic effects are significant. The Department of Transportation’s studies found that time changes affect transportation schedules, energy usage, and commerce. While some believe daylight saving time reduces electricity use, a 2005 study showed each day of extended daylight saving time only lowered national electricity consumption by 0.5%.
Right now, the next clock change comes on March 9, 2025. Clocks will move forward one hour. Unless laws change, we’ll move them back again on November 2.
Sleep doctors strongly support keeping standard time. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says it better matches our natural sleep-wake cycles. Erik Herzog, speaking for many doctors, says “the medical and scientific communities are unified that permanent standard time is better for human health.”
These changes would affect interstate commerce and daily schedules, according to the Uniform Time Act provisions. The American Medical Association has joined other health groups in supporting an end to time switches, saying standard time aligns better with human biology.
