By Laura Di Mascio
As if Monday’s aren’t bad enough, today busy Torontonians are struggling to get by with one less hour of sleep.
Daylight savings time kicked in at 2 a.m. on Sunday, but people are still feeling the effects of turning the clocks forward an hour.
Asta Suri, a student at Humber College in Toronto, said today is tough on her.
“I feel a lot more tired today... losing an hour sleep definitely makes a difference,” she said.
Not only does the time change affect how people feel, it also adds some danger to a morning commute.
Toronto Police Const. Hugh Smith said there is usually a slight spike in the number of collisions in the aftermath of the time change. This increase is not major – there are about 10 to 20 per cent more collisions than on a typical Monday morning – but it is significant, Smith said.
“When we have a major snowfall, sometimes we get upwards of 200 to 300 collisions in that day, whereas on a normal day, we might have 40. However [with the time change], we might get 50, so it’s a smaller increase, but it’s still noticeable.”
Smith said a lack of preparation is largely to blame.
“It’s like studying for an exam and cramming everything in and trying to get up in the morning and thinking you’re going to write a really good exam,” he said. “Over the first couple of days we do notice a change in some of the driving behaviours.”
Smith said the extra bit of sunlight usually results in more people going to bed later than normal. This means their bodies aren’t getting the amount of sleep they’re used to, which throws off their entire morning routine.
“A lot of these people either fail to change their clocks or they get up late and then they skip that morning routine that usually gets all the cobwebs out,” he said. “They’re running late so they jump in a car, they don’t have any food in them and they’re basically still fatigued, they’re rushing through trying to make up for this lost time and they’re a little sleep deprived so their mental state isn’t as aware as it normally is.”
This year is a little different, however. The time change comes earlier than normal and happens to coincide with March break. Smith said this is actually a good thing for early morning drivers.
“The daylight savings time adjustment comes during March break whereas in the past it was about a month later, so we don’t have as much traffic on the road this morning because a lot of people are away on trips and so forth,” said Smith. “So we might not see as much of an increase [in collisions] this year.”
But on her commute to school Monday morning, Suri said the driving conditions were poor.
“I noticed a lot of careless drivers and I think people should just take the time to watch what they’re doing and just be careful today.”
The best thing to do to avoid trouble is be prepared, Smith said. Go to bed 10 to 15 minutes early and don’t rush to avoid being late.
“You can’t be any later than late, you can be really late, you can be more late, but you’re still late,” said Smith. “If you find yourself late, accept it, but don’t change your driving behaviour because of it.”
Monday also marks the beginning of the Toronto Police “March Safe” week-long campaign. This is an annual campaign that takes place during March break, but Smith said this year’s early arrival of daylight savings time makes it even more effective.
The time change will result in more people being out at later times so pedestrian safety is critical at this time of year, said Smith, adding that Toronto saw an alarming 31 pedestrian fatalities this year.
We will have seven-and-a-half months of sunnier evenings until Standard time resumes in November.
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