That clocks should not go back in winter

[nosswith]

This weekend the clocks go back. Something I object to and would like to see end, at least in England.

Three arguments for doing so used to be made

• dark mornings in Scotland- fair point, now there is a Scottish Parliament and they can decide, there are enough places with two time zones.
• Farming- less people affected now with more mechanisation
• Guy Fawkes Night- I cannot see how one day a year starting with the few celebrations a bit later is an issue.

Since mines, shipyards and factories closed, fewer people start work early, whereas longer retail hours mean more working in the evening. If wfh at least some of the week continues post Covid 19, the numbers going out in the dark mornings will be fewer than before.

AIBU?

@Bikingbear
It makes more sense to have light during hours people can actually benefit from it than essentially filling the daylight hours with education and work as occurs in the middle of winter under GMT. Whatever you do children will be going to or from school in the dark but by moving the time zone forward that can be limited to one end of the day rather than having people arrive and leave in the dark as happens under GMT.

Those objecting to Scotland having a different timezone plus the associated comments about east/west or north/south and the border not being straight, should think about the situation in Ireland, where if Ireland follows the EU proposals and Northern Ireland follows UK practice then for part of the year they would have the same time and for the remainder they would be one hour different.

Daylight Savings Time helps the economy as it enables outdoor evening events. Just as an example, the golf industry would lose millions if we stuck with GMT through the summer.

December/ January are dark on getting up/ going to work and coming home anyway. To the average commuter, it makes little difference.

It would make more sense to be one hour lighter in the afternoons when it's easier for children to use it outdoors for sport and play instead of coming home in twighlight.
More children walk home from school than going in so that also benefits them.

I like being in Ireland in the west of the timezone and having later, more usable daylight.

@jcyclops

Daylight Savings Time helps the economy as it enables outdoor evening events. Just as an example, the golf industry would lose millions if we stuck with GMT through the summer.

Why? Surely a golf club can set its opening hours to suit itself?

The experiment in 1968-71 when GMT+1 applied throughout the year saved many hundreds of lives on the roads. There was a slight increase in casualties in the morning, but these were massively outweighed by a reduction in the evenings. One problem was that the media could identify wee Jimmy who was killed on his way to school and make a big deal of it, but they couldn't identify and make a big story about the 5 kids who did not die that same evening.

@beepbeepsheep

Yeah screw those of us in Scotland. Nothing better than getting up in the dark, going to work in the dark and leaving in the dark. Fantastic. Cheers.

It's just a fact of life that Scotland has few daylight hours in the winter. Tinkering with the clocks won't change that.

Why? Surely a golf club can set its opening hours to suit itself?

Yes they could, but a lot more people want to play golf at 7pm-8pm than at 4am-5am.

Has anyone blamed Nicola Sturgeon yet?

@jcyclops

The experiment in 1968-71 when GMT+1 applied throughout the year saved many hundreds of lives on the roads. There was a slight increase in casualties in the morning, but these were massively outweighed by a reduction in the evenings. One problem was that the media could identify wee Jimmy who was killed on his way to school and make a big deal of it, but they couldn't identify and make a big story about the 5 kids who did not die that same evening.

It was later identified that the reduction in evening casualties was attributable to the introduction of drink-driving legislation in the UK, which happened at the same time, so there was in fact little difference in the figures.

The wiki entry says it was only 'partly attributable' to the introduction of drink-driving legislation. If we repeat the experiment, we'll know.

I love the dark mornings and evenings.

Nothing worse than it getting light at 4am and not getting dark again till 10/11 pm.

YABU

[quote StatisticalSense]@Bikingbear
It makes more sense to have light during hours people can actually benefit from it than essentially filling the daylight hours with education and work as occurs in the middle of winter under GMT. Whatever you do children will be going to or from school in the dark but by moving the time zone forward that can be limited to one end of the day rather than having people arrive and leave in the dark as happens under GMT.[/quote]
So sod the people who need daylight to actually work, the farmers, construction workers. Sod the people who work on the roads, truck, taxi, bus drivers, lollipop people, construction workers, make it more dangerous for them just so you can get your fun time in the evening when your most likely to be indoors anyway.

YABU. DD is already leaving for school in the dark... I know it will happen again mid November(ish), but if the clocks didn’t go back it wouldn’t be daylight until past 9 o’clock in December, horrific stuff. Re street lighting (someone asked upthread), our village lights go off at midnight, I need to investigate if they go back on in the morning or not.

if we decided to stop changing the clocks we could choose the time we stopped it on. We could pick whether we wanted lighter mornings or evenings.

As an incidental aside - I described the clocks going back as having potential to be "nature's own lockdown" at the school gate this afternoon. Thus reaffirming my already solid status as "the hippy".

I don’t mind whether we have GMT or BST. It’s the changing twice a year I don’t like. Autumn change is easier than spring change, which I LOATHE.

@Bikingbear
But those jobs take place all day so in doesn't matter if the light is in the morning or evening because they are already working part of the day in the dark and there is no way to prevent that. The only thing that may change in relation to work is the end of the farming and construction sectors wanting to start at 7am or even earlier and finish early afternoon year round rather than a more reasonable start time which would make such jobs more appealing.

I feel much more in sync with the winter time zone. Defo wouldn't want to be stuck in summertime all year round.

Jusr stop changing the feckin clocks!!!!!. I don’t care which one it stays on but stop changing it. It’s bloody ridiculous that our body clocks have to get messed up twice a year.

I have a personal preference for lighter evenings rather than mornings (am in Scotland).

@Bikingbear, if somebody can't cope with driving in the dark (there are things called streetlights and headlights, as I recall), they probably aren't best placed for a job driving several tonnes of metal around for a living.

Can anybody else imagine being told by a bus driver 'Sorry, I don't know how to drive safely in the dark, so you'll all have to get off and walk'? or an applicant for an HGV job saying 'but I can only drive between the hours of 9 and 3 in fine weather and cloudless skies because I'll crash if it gets a bit dimpsy out there'?

I just use a magic device to get on with getting up and seeing things in winter. It's called a light. Admittedly, I've bought a twenty quid one that has a very bright, cool light rather than an LED candle so I can see to work, but everybody at work seems to manage with public transport or driving after sundown or before sunrise. And if I worked somewhere that didn't have public lighting or electricity, I'd use a thing called a torch or, like highway repairs, a light powered by a generator.

It's only 1 hour, and it's bliss to sleep longer in the winter.
And in the summer enjoying lighter days.

I vote for keeping things as they are, I love the change of time.

Nearly all clocks are automatically changing anyway, it's not even that inconvenient any more.

@CaptainMyCaptain

That comment was in reply to *@Bikingbear*. Quote fail.

I've never had a dog, but I remember someone moaning their dogs who woke at 6am got confused by the clocks changing

My dog rolls out of bed about 10 o'clock.

I'd like to stick at GMT, my kids go to bed better and wake up easier!