LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Ask around Lexington and you’ll hear a range of opinions about Daylight Saving Time. Some people want to it stay around the full year, while others think standard time should become permanent. Most people agreed the current system, where the country switches back and forth twice a year, is not a good option.
"Oh I love it,” said Joyce Hopkins. “I love the Daylight Saving Time. It's lighter longer, I hate the dark time."
The US Senate unanimously passed legislation Tuesday which makes Daylight Saving Time permanent year-round, if also passed by the house and signed by the president into law. That could mean no more changing your clocks to spring ahead and fall back.
“It gives you more time to exercise with your family,” said Evelyn Patterson.
Not everyone is on-board with switching to Daylight Saving Time. Some critics point to how late the sun would rise in the winter. Right now, Lexington’s latest sunrise is at 7:54 in the morning Under permanent daylight saving time the sun would not rise at the latest until 8:54 in the morning.. From mid-December to late January sunrises would be after 8:45.
Because of the late sunrise, University of Kentucky Biology Professor Bruce O’Hara, who studies sleep, would like to see Daylight Saving-Time eliminated, so it can be standard time year-round.
The later sunrise will make it harder for people to wake up, especially for high school students, O’Hara said.
“So light in the morning, you know, really seems to be good for people's mental health and for optimal sleep,” he said.
While Daylight Saving Time was not created to help farmers, a former farmer LEX18 spoke with said making Daylight Saving-Time permanent would negatively impact them. Farmers in many cases can’t get tasks done until the sun rises, and a later sunrise would mean those tasks linger later in the day,” said Sara Chamberlain.
“I go back to the harvest products like your hay, we would have to wait till sometime in the middle of the afternoon before we could start cutting hay.”
She worries a switch to year-round Daylight Saving Time could mean less time farmers can spend with their families doing other activities.
