With the U.S. Senate passage of the Sunshine Protection Act, efforts may again be underway to permanently orient the U.S. to Daylight Saving Time. But JD Mullane, in the Bucks County Courier Times, recalls the idea’s prior attempt.
In December 1973, the biggest kitchen table issue was the cost of energy.
The Nixon Administration nationalized Daylight Saving Time in Jan. 1974 as an energy-saving initiative.
Any household budget relief felt on gas and power was quickly obscured, however, by a dire after-effect. Darkened mornings proved dangerous for children on their way to school under still-starlit skies.
In Fla., for example, eight children were killed en route to school. The tragedies represented a 300 percent increase in mortality over a handful of days, compared with student-related accident data for both terms the scholastic year prior.
Parents also complained about the challenges of getting children to bed at 9:00 p.m. with the sun still ablaze.
By Oct. 1974, the idea was scrapped.
The current legislation’s future remains unclear (Pres. Biden has not commented). But public U.S. opinion on the idea is reportedly only at a lukewarm 56 percent.
More recollections on Daylight Saving Time are at the Bucks County Courier Times.
