More accidents
A Stanford University study found there was an increase in fatal road accidents when the clocks change. Accidents were higher on the Monday after moving clocks forward an hour in spring because people were more sleep deprived. Accidents were also higher early Sunday morning (late Saturday night) the day the clocks move back in the fall because, the study hypothesizes, people party more anticipating an extra-long day so drive under the influence or while extra sleepy. A Michigan State University study found that there was also an increase in workplace accidents in March, but no change in the fall.
Bar riots
In 1997 and 1998, street riots broke out in Athens, Ohio, home of Ohio University, because students were angry when bars closed an hour early due to Daylight Saving. Three police officers were injured in the 1998 riot and two students were sentenced to jail time, according to Athens News.
(T-shirt for sale by spreadshirt.com/screenshot)
Stop in your tracks
If you’re on an Amtrak train when the clocks fall back, expect to stop and wait an hour wherever you are at 2:00 a.m. Amtrak has a rule that trains cannot leave the station ahead of their scheduled time. So, when the clocks fall back in October, at 2:00 a.m. all trains stop and wait one hour (in the spring they just keep going and try to make up the time as much as they can).
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Thwarted terrorists
In 1999, terrorists from the West Bank intended to detonate a bomb in Israel. While smuggling it across the border, the bomb went off—1 hour early. Israel had already changed back to Standard Time while the West Bank had not. Three terrorist were killed in the incident and no Israelis were harmed.
Altered birth order
In 2007, Laura Cirioli of Cary, North Carolina gave birth to twins 34 minutes apart. During that time, the clocks fell back 1 hour so the second born, Alison, became the first born on paper, and the first born, Peter, is officially second in the pecking order. “She is his big little sister. And he’s going to be her little big bother,” the twin’s father Jason Cirioli, told WRAL news.
(Screenshot/WRAL)
The Indiana dispute
Time has divided Indiana for years. Most of the state follows Eastern Time, but its two western corners are on Central Time. When it came to daylight saving, the Central Time counties observed it, while the Eastern Time ones did not—well almost. Actually, the give southeastern counties near Cincinnati and Louisville unofficially observed it to stay in synch with their Ohio neighbors. In 2005, the state legislature finally passed a law making daylight saving time statewide starting in 2006.
(in.gov)
(*Car photo via Shutterstock)
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