How West Virginia feels about Daylight Savings Time

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) - On Sunday morning, time sprung forward an hour. This was because of the bi-annual tradition known as Daylight Savings Time. While the change gave us an extra hour of daylight this time of year, the tradition is still met with some controversy. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Daylight Savings was first practiced in the U.S. in 1918. The original thought for the tradition was it would save fuel and energy for war efforts. The ‘spring forward’ also gives the ability to make better use of the daylight. While Daylight Savings wasn’t consistent in the early 1900s, it became law in 1966 under the Uniform Time Act. While over 70 countries worldwide use DST, not all do. In America, Arizona and Hawaii forgo the tradition. Lawmakers in other states are looking to join that list. In 2021, Senator Marco Rubio out of Florida, sponsored the Sunshine Protection Act. The act proposed to make Daylight Savings Time permanent, putting an end to ‘springing forward’ and ‘falling back.’ In March of 2022, Rubio’s act was passed by Senate, but didn’t get approved by the House.5News spoke to a few locals in Bridgeport who would agree with nixing the clock-changing tradition for good.

“I personally feel that daylight savings time is a waste of our time,” said Amber Workman. “It affects everybody’s work ethic, our mood, our sleep, including our children and everybody else.”

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Kayla Knotts. “Everybody loses sleep over it; everyone is just cranky. It does affect the children, for sure. We don’t need it.”

“Let time be time,” said Sam Daugherty. “Don’t go back, don’t go forward, just let it be.”

The 2nd part of the Daylight Savings tradition comes on November 3rd, so it’s only 238 days until we turn that clock back an hour.