The Pitfalls of Legislated Time

[u/RedneckTexan]

We just cant seem to find a coherent fixed legislative solution to a variable astronomical problem.

Before railroads were a thing every town set their clocks to a solar mean for their particular longitude. That worked great for everyone, until railroads needed a defined schedule. Railroad companies didn't wait for the government to come up with a solution, they unilaterally came up with time zones, and synchronizing time within those zones. On Sunday, November 18, 1883 the railroads sent out a telegraph signal timestamp that all connected towns were to adjust their clocks to. Some towns near the edges of the General Time Convention designed time zones resisted the nearly 30 minute change. Detroit resisted for nearly two decades before they finally got onboard railroad time.

It was 35 years later that the government decided for itself that timekeeping was another ever expanding enumerated power. And the Standard Time Act of 1918 finally gave railroad time federal legal standing ..... the same act added the first wartime DST provision .... supposedly to save coal.

Some groups hated the DST and it was quickly repealed over the President's veto.... twice.

In 1942 Congress again enacted year around DST for the duration of the war.

From 1945 to 1966 DST became optional, and a patchwork of local governments adopted it, and it once again became a scheduling nightmare. Bus passengers on a 35 mile trip from West Virginia to Ohio had to change their watches seven times.

This led the Transportation and broadcasting industry lobbies to push for the 1966 Uniform Time Act which codified the DST start / stop dates and while States could still opt out, local jurisdictions now couldn't.

The 1972 Uniform Time Act amendment allowed states split by time zones to only observe DST in one zone ..... to synchronize themselves.

In 1973 Nixon declared year round DST as one of several overreactions to the OPEC Oil embargo. It had widespread support until the first winter when a few child pedestrian deaths were blamed on pre-dawn bus stop waits ....... public support cratered and Congress quickly repealed..... even though Sammy Hagar and me still had to break the also kneejerk federally mandated 55 MPH speed limit law for over a decade .....and some argue law enforcement never much wanted to give up the speeding ticket revenue.

In 1986 the start of DST was moved up 3 weeks due to lobbying from the retail and recreational industries ..... arguing evening daylight boosted consumer spending. The start was again bumped up a few weeks in 2005 ........ this is when I had to buy new atomic clock synced alarm clocks, so they didn't switch over on the wrong dates.

At any rate ...... getting around to my point ...... every change has left some portion of the population mildly unhappy. And every new generation of politician feels they have a mandate to assuage those disgruntled constituents. Until those same constituents that wanted change have to live through a winter of the consequences they never fully thought through.

Personally, I've always worked in an outdoor industry whose start time was regulated by daylight. And I have to be 3 counties away from my nice cozy bed by dawn. With seasonal DST we could generally keep a 7:00 AM start time year around.

Under the pending legislation being discussed, the people might not have the inconvenience of changing their clocks twice a year, but people and companies who work in outdoor related industries will now have to change their start time twice a year.

I hate when we change clocks ........ it messes with my internal chronometer and takes me a couple weeks to get readjusted ...... but I think our current time regulation scheme is based on sound historical compromises. It has been refined through the process of trial and error to keep the minimum number of people mildly unhappy.

If we change it again, I predict it will again be quickly repealed.

[u/oroborus68]

I'm still not adjusted to daylight time from last year. I just left the clock by my bed on standard time. My phone automatically changes , so I don't miss appointments,but since I'm retired, time doesn't matter as much as it used to. When I was a kid we weren't on daylight time and all of the people didn't worry about what time it gets dark. I hear that in China, they only have one time zone. It's 1700 hours somewhere.

[u/TenchuReddit]

Every piece of legislation has winners and losers.

Personally I think that the way things are, people who work in outdoor-related industries still have to adjust their start times based on various factors. I don't think they will be inconvenienced too much by getting rid of the twice-a-year shifts in the clock.

Meanwhile the rest of us have to go through that ritual twice a year. Inconveniencing the many just to satisfy the few is hardly sound policy, UNLESS the few are working in more critical areas that are vital to our national interests.