Daylight saving time: Explaining the century-old debate

Twice-yearly switching- Changing the clocks twice a year has become widely viewed by the public, lawmakers and sleep experts as not only an inconvenience, but also as a serious health and public safety concern.

Daylight saving time - While the original purpose of daylight saving time was to save energy by extending daylight into the evening, research has cast doubts on that idea. Advocates of daylight saving time also argue that it promotes public safety, with evidence linking the extra daylight in the evenings to a decrease in crime

• Most Americans had to go to work and school in the dark, with sunrise arriving around 8:30 a.m. in cities including Washington, D.C., New York, and Detroit.
• Disapproval of the switch grew when multiple children were fatally struck by cars while headed to school in dark.
• By late January, the governor of Florida had called for a repeal, and some members of Congress questioned the wisdom of the decision.
• On Oct. 6, not long after Nixon’s resignation, President Gerald Ford signed a bill ending the Daylight Saving Time experiment.

• More than 60 percent of Americans are in favor of stopping the biannual switch
• Of the people who want to eliminate the shift, nearly twice as many prefer permanent daylight saving time over standard time
• The poll found that older adults expressed a clear preference for year-round daylight time while adults under 30 were "closely divided" on whether they wanted more daylight in the morning or later in the evening