The twice-yearly time change is not a major factor in America’s ongoing road safety emergency, David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has said.
Harkey submitted a written testimony to the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, for a hearing on whether to continue switching back and forth between daylight saving time and standard time every year.
“Whatever you decide to do about the clock, I hope you will also consider actions to keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe, especially after sundown,” he said.
A recent IIHS study of morning and evening crashes in the weeks surrounding the time change showed that pedestrian fatalities fall while vehicle occupant fatalities rise with the conversion to daylight saving time. When standard time resumes, vehicle occupant deaths drop and pedestrian deaths rise.
“If you are looking for concrete guidance on whether to keep the current twice-yearly time changes, … the evidence does not point definitively one way or another,” Harkey said. “What our study does reinforce is that pedestrians and bicyclists are at greater risk in low light conditions.”
Harkey urged the committee members to focus on solutions known to be effective in combatting that problem.
These solutions include infrastructure improvements like crosswalk lighting, rectangular rapid flashing beacons and pedestrian hybrid beacons.
