Deadly car crashes spike across US right after daylight saving time, researchers say
The annual “spring forward” ritual of daylight saving time is connected to a spike in fatal car crashes across the United States, researchers said.
Researchers from the University of Colorado said the annual time change is linked to an average of about 28 more fatal car wrecks in the week following daylight saving time. The risk of being killed in a car crash increases by about 6% during that week.
They found that the fall time change is not connected to a spike in car crash deaths like the spring change.
The researchers looked at more than 730,000 fatal crashes from 1996 to 2017, according to the study published in the journal Current Biology. They said the biggest increase in crashes is in the mornings.
The researchers said the main reason car crashes spike after the time change has to do with sleep patterns and tired drivers, not that the sun is coming up later for commuters. “The illumination conditions play a contributing, but minor role,” they wrote.
“Although the observed effects are of moderate size, yearly DST transition affects billions of individuals, and thus small changes in MVA risk might have a substantial public health effect,” the study authors said. “Our results support the theory that abolishing time changes completely, would improve public health and reduce geographical health disparities, as observed in our time zone analysis.”
German researchers have reported similar findings on fatal car crashes in Europe, according to the Associated Press. Daylight saving time has also been linked to an increase in heart problems, the AP reports.
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 8:52 AM.
