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'The Big Dark' returns to Washington
Western Washington has officials entered "The Big Dark," the unofficial start of the gloomiest months after Daylight Saving Time ends.
SEATTLE - Washington’s return to standard time has brought earlier sunsets and the unofficial start of the "Big Dark." But a new University of Washington study suggests keeping daylight saving time year-round could have consequences for children traveling to school.
Researchers estimate permanent daylight saving time would mean at least 2 billion additional trips to school in darkness nationwide, including nearly 35 million more in Washington, compared with the current system of changing clocks twice a year.
What is the ‘Big Dark’?
The backstory:
FOX 13 Seattle meteorologist Ilona McCauley said the nickname describes the lack of daylight during afternoon and evening hours as Washington heads toward winter.
"It is not a Seattle lore. This is actually a real thing, but it's kind of the term of endearment that we’ve given it here," said McCauley.
Returning to standard time shifts sunset an hour earlier on the clock.
"So you’re losing daylight in the evening time," she said.
The push to ‘lock the clock’
The other side:
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., has pushed to eliminate twice-yearly clock changes through the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent.
Across the border, British Columbia has already made that transition. Most of the province moved clocks forward for the final time in March and did not turn them back Nov. 1.
But ending seasonal clock changes and choosing which time to keep are separate questions for UW researcher Guadalupe Rodríguez Ferrante.
"Right now what they are proposing is keeping the daylight saving time the whole year, and we are saying we shouldn’t be keeping daylight saving time the whole year," said Ferrante.
Darker mornings raise safety concerns
What they're saying:
The UW study examined school start times, enrollment and geographic locations in 14 states, then estimated the nationwide effect of permanent daylight saving time.
The researchers also analyzed U.S. traffic collision data. They found that a fatal crash involving a school-age pedestrian was roughly twice as likely to occur during dark mornings as after sunrise.
"So children that would be walking to school would be at a higher risk if they go to school before sunrise," said Ferrante.
They acknowledged concerns about the existing practice of changing clocks.
"Changing or switching between standard time and daylight saving time is not good and there is a lot of literature about it," she said.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Lauren Donovan.