{"id":10459,"date":"2021-03-01T18:20:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T18:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/?p=10459"},"modified":"2021-03-02T11:31:40","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T11:31:40","slug":"preparing-for-daylight-saving-time-dst-driver-safety-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/preparing-for-daylight-saving-time-dst-driver-safety-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for Daylight Saving Time (DST): driver safety tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts in the U.S. and Canada on Sunday March 14 and in the UK and Europe on Sunday March 28.<\/p>\n

While the clock change brings welcome lighter evenings, the beginning of DST is also associated with increased crash risk. One study* discovered a 17 percent increase in traffic collisions on the Monday following the spring clock change, with road deaths higher than average for the remainder of the week.<\/p>\n

The reason for the increased risk? Experts blame the sleep disruption. And there\u2019s also the fact that the sun will be positioned differently for drivers that are on the road on the Monday morning; potentially resulting in increased dazzle.<\/p>\n

The National Safety Council (NSC) warns<\/a> that employees who already have a higher risk of being drowsy might be even more tired than usual because of the clock change. This includes shift workers, workers over the age of 40 and transportation professionals.<\/p>\n

Plan ahead for the start of DST to help minimize the effect. Here are eDriving\u2019s top tips to help you prepare:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Go to bed about 10-15 minutes earlier every night for about a week before the start of DST.<\/li>\n
  2. Adjust your clock to the new time earlier in the evening of the clock change so that you actually go to bed an hour earlier rather than going to bed at the usual time and missing out on sleep.<\/li>\n
  3. If you cannot go to bed earlier, sleep for longer the next morning or have an afternoon nap on the Sunday (first day of DST).<\/li>\n
  4. Avoid driving during peak times for fatigue-related collisions (2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., and in the afternoon between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.) following the clock change. Adjust your regular schedule if necessary for the first few days of DST.<\/li>\n
  5. Avoid distractions. This is important for any trip, regardless of time of day or time of year. However, it\u2019s crucial not to add any other risk factors into the mix at the start of DST when you\u2019re already at greater risk of reduced concentration.<\/li>\n
  6. Keep your distance. This is important during any trip, but it\u2019s helpful to increase your \u201cbuffer\u201d space when you know other drivers on the road might be suffering the effects of the clock change, which may result in delayed reactions.<\/li>\n
  7. Watch your speed. Again, it\u2019s always important to travel at a safe speed but allowing yourself extra reaction time will further increase your safety as your body adjusts to the time change.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For more road safety tips for you and your family members, visit eDriving\u2019s online global road safety news website, www.edriving.com\/three60<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Visit eDriving\u2019s COVID-19 Resource Centr<\/a>e for coronavirus-related news, guidance and resources.<\/p>\n

    *U.S. government’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This year Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts in the U.S. and Canada on Sunday March 14 and in the UK and Europe on Sunday March 28. While the clock change brings welcome lighter evenings, the beginning of DST is also associated with increased crash risk. One study* discovered a 17 percent increase in traffic collisions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":10460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-driving-for-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}