Daylight Saving Time Divides GA Patch Readers: Survey Results

GEORGIA — As if this past year hasn't required enough personal adjustment, this weekend ushers in one more non-negotiable ask. This weekend, the time changes.

And, according to the thousands of Patch Readers in Georgia who took our survey recently, the biannual wrecker of body clocks is a divided issue.

Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 14 this year in Georgia. Not all states in the U.S. change their clocks during the year, however. Hawaii and Arizona have long opted out of the practice while Georgia legislators have proposed laws to end the practice altogether. (The Georgia physician who sponsored the bill said the twice-yearly time switch hurts Georgians' health — and makes them cranky.)

More than 2,600 readers replied to the survey, with 51.1 percent saying they thought the state should end Daylight Saving Time.

While not a scientific poll, the survey presents a broad idea of public sentiment regarding the semi-annual time change ritual. Respondents were asked what they loved or hated about it most, and how tinkering with it could impact their quality of life.

However, almost 49 percent of respondents said they thought the state should keep DST — only a 2.2 percent difference from those who feel DST should go away forever. Furthermore, a majority of all survey takers — 57.6 percent — said they enjoyed longer daylight hours in the spring and summer. Nearly 52 percent of readers said they also really liked the extra daylight to work or do the things they enjoy.

While most enjoyed the extra hours of daylight in the spring and summer, almost 25 percent said they hated that it came with the cost of longer nighttime hours in the fall and winter. Nearly 20 percent of respondents said they didn't like that it was inconsistent with clocks in the rest of the world, and nearly 15 percent of survey takers said they hated that they get less sleep when the clocks spring forward.

Most, however, said geographical consistency was key, with 54.5 percent saying that Georgia's time should remain the same with other Eastern Time Zone states.

If the state were to end Daylight Saving Time, readers were nearly split on when it should be done. Slightly more than 51 percent said any change should be made in the fall, with no more "falling" back an hour, while nearly 49 percent said it should stop in the spring.

Readers were almost evenly split on whether ending Daylight Saving Time would affect their lives positively or negatively. A total of 34.6 percent of readers said ending DST would neither positively nor negatively affect their lives.

Kimberly Johnson, Patch Staff, contributed.

Click through the slide show to see all survey results:

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