Why does Indiana still have daylight saving time?

Early Sunday, Hoosiers will mark the end of Daylight Saving Time by changing their clocks. Here's why we have DST, who still supports it, and why medical experts believe it's a bad practice that harms public health.

When does daylight saving time end in Indiana this year?

Daylight Saving Time officially ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, which means you should set your clocks back an hour before bed late Saturday/early Sunday. “Falling back” means you either sleep an hour or get up earlier that night. All of Indiana, except 12 counties in the northwest and southwest, including Evansville, will move to Eastern Standard Time following the change.

Who Supports Daylight Saving Time in Indiana and Why?

The main proponents of the time change in Indiana come from the business community.

“Our organization has been and continues to be a strong supporter of implementing Daylight Saving Time in Indiana,” said Vanessa Green Sinders, President and CEO of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

“Recognizing Daylight Saving Time makes Indiana business hours more predictable,” she said via email. “When the state ignored daylight saving time, Hoosier businesses often experienced confusion among customers, suppliers and business partners in other parts of the country and world. There is no question that daylight saving time has a positive impact on Indiana’s economy.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun supports year-round daylight saving time, which would eliminate the need to change clocks twice a year, his campaign said in an email this week.

“I think most Americans would like that idea,” Braun told Newsmax in 2022.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick isn't so sure.

“While Jennifer is excited about the extra hour of sleep on Sunday, she has not heard a consensus on Daylight Saving Time and is not making it a priority in the campaign,” her spokeswoman Mila Myles said by email.

The US Congress would have to take action to make changes. The office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, did not respond to an email message.

Doctors: Daylight saving time is bad for your mental and physical health

The American Medical Association has urged the nation not to meddle with watches.

“Don’t jump ahead. Don't fall behind. Don’t even touch the clock unless the power goes out,” the association’s website says.

“The U.S. should eliminate seasonal time changes in favor of a national, fixed time year-round,” said the AMA, supported by organizations such as the American Academy of Cardiovascular Sleep Medicine, the American College of Chest Physicians and the National Safety Council.

The AMA said changing clocks leads to more heart attacks, missed doctor's appointments and more emergency room visits and hospital return visits.

A 2020 Danish study found that daylight saving time brings a higher risk of heart attacks, injuries, mental and behavioral disorders, and immune-related diseases.

Spencer Dawson, clinical assistant professor in Indiana University's Department of Psychological and Brain Science, said daylight saving time creates a discrepancy between the time on the clock and the body's natural circadian rhythm, which is based on the sun.

Dawson, a licensed psychologist and behavioral sleep medicine specialist, said forcing a time change is particularly harmful to children and teens. Children have to get up much earlier than usual and often have to stand at the bus stop in the dark, which increases the risk of traffic accidents.

Teens already have a natural biological delay in their circadian rhythms, making them night owls, he said. (They're not rebellious, Dawson said.) Instead of allowing teens to wake up later, daylight saving time forces them to wake up even earlier, he said.

“If we eliminated daylight saving time, kids would be tired at a time that makes a lot more sense,” Dawson said.

And he said the impact is worse for Hoosiers than most because Indiana is on the western edge of the Eastern time zone, meaning some areas of Indiana experience around solar noon during daylight saving time – when the sun reaches its highest point on May 14 Clock

How should you prepare for the time change?

Both Dawson and Dr. Drew Watters, an emergency medicine physician at IU Health Bloomington, urged people to start adjusting their sleep cycles days before the time change, perhaps in 15- or 20-minute increments.

Watters also suggested “minimizing early morning commitments” for a few days after the change.

IU Health says people should be especially vigilant when driving in the dark and wear bright, reflective clothing and carry flashlights when taking an evening walk.

To help people get a good night's sleep, Watters says they should “put the phone away at least an hour before bed.”

What is the history of Daylight Saving Time in Indiana?

Daylight saving time was first introduced in the United States in 1918 during World War I, but was abandoned after the war. Daylight saving time came back during World War II, but was abandoned after the war ended.

By the late 1940s, the use of daylight saving time – the so-called Fast Time – had become popular in cities. Indiana was officially in the Central Time Zone, but some communities chose to follow Fast Time year-round, essentially following the Eastern Time Zone.

In 1949, the Indiana Senate quietly passed a bill that would keep the state on central time and ban daylight saving time. As the bill passed the House, lawmakers from cities who generally favored fast time battled lawmakers from agricultural areas where changing the clock was considered “unnatural” and “unhealthy for cows.”

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established a uniform system of daylight saving time across the country.

In 1972, Indiana adopted a model proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation in which most of Indiana observed Eastern Standard Time year-round, while the Gary and Evansville areas continued to observe Central Time, followed by Daylight Saving Time in the summer.

This model remained in place for more than 30 years until Gov. Mitch Daniels argued that Indiana's lack of daylight saving time was hurting the state's economy. The Indiana House narrowly passed a measure in 2005 to implement daylight saving time in Indiana.

Do Farmers Support Daylight Saving Time?

NO.

“I don’t see any difference,” said Martha Miller, director of the Monroe County Soil and Water Conservation District.

“Farmers work from sunup to sundown, no matter what time it is,” said Miller, who is also a local rancher.

Does summer time save energy?

Not really.

A 2017 analysis of 44 studies concluded that daylight saving time “does not provide significant energy savings.”

Instead, William Shugart, an economics professor at Utah State University, estimated in 2007 that just the time it takes to change clocks twice a year costs Americans $1.7 billion in lost opportunity costs annually.

The Indianapolis Star contributed to this report.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at [email protected].