    [Senate Hearing 119-141]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 119-141

                          IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME:
                           SHOULD WE LOCK THE CLOCK?

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                             COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                          SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                                 APRIL 10, 2025

                                   __________

        Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
                                 Transportation

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                    Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                    __________

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    61-335 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2025

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

           SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                        ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                           TED CRUZ, Texas, Chairman
    JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             MARIA CANTWELL, Washington,
    ROGER WICKER, Mississippi                Ranking
    DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
    JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
    DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
    MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee          GARY PETERS, Michigan
    TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
    TED BUDD, North Carolina             TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
    ERIC SCHMITT, Missouri               JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
    JOHN CURTIS, Utah                    BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico
    BERNIE MORENO, Ohio                  JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado
    TIM SHEEHY, Montana                  JOHN FETTERMAN, Pennsylvania
    SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  ANDY KIM, New Jersey
    CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming              LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware

                     Brad Grantz, Republican Staff Director
               Nicole Christus, Republican Deputy Staff Director
                         Liam McKenna, General Counsel
                       Lila Harper Helms, Staff Director
                     Melissa Porter, Deputy Staff Director
                         Jonathan Hale, General Counsel

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page
    Hearing held on April 10, 2025...................................     1
    Statement of Senator Cruz........................................     1
    Statement of Senator Blunt Rochester.............................     2
    Statement of Senator Curtis......................................    38
    Statement of Senator Lujan.......................................    45
    Statement of Senator Young.......................................    47
    Statement of Senator Markey......................................    50

                                   Witnesses

    Hon. Rick Scott, U.S. Senator from Florida.......................     4
    Scott Yates, Founder, Lock the Clock Movement....................     5
        Prepared statement...........................................     6
    Jay Karen, Chief Executive Officer, National Golf Course Owners
      Association....................................................     7
        Prepared statement...........................................     9
    Dr. Karin Johnson, Practicing Physician and Professor of
      Neurology, UMass Chan School of Medicine Baystate--On Behalf of
      the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.........................    16
        Prepared statement...........................................    18
    Dr. David Harkey, President, Insurance Institute for Highway
      Safety.........................................................    34
        Prepared statement...........................................    35

                                    Appendix

    Response to written questions submitted to Scott Yates by:
        Hon. Ted Cruz................................................    57
        Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    57
        Hon. Ben Ray Lujan...........................................    59
        Hon. Lisa Blunt Rochester....................................    59
    Response to written question submitted to Jay Karen by:
        Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    60
    Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Karin Johnson by:
        Hon. Ted Cruz................................................    60
        Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    61
    Response to written questions submitted to Dr. David Harkey by:
        Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    63
        Hon. Lisa Blunt Rochester....................................    65

                          IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME:
                           SHOULD WE LOCK THE CLOCK?

                                  ----------

                            THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2025

                                           U.S. Senate,
            Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:01 a.m., in
    room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Ted Cruz,
    Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
        Present: Senators Cruz [presiding], Scott, Young, Curtis,
    Blunt Rochester, Lujan, and Markey.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TED CRUZ,
                        U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS

        The Chairman. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back, Senator
    Scott, good to see you.
        The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and
    Transportation will come to order.
        Twice a year we find ourselves adjusting our clocks,
    shifting an hour of daylight forward in the spring, springing
    it forward, and falling back in the fall.
        For many Americans this biannual ritual is a minor
    inconvenience, something we endure without giving it much
    thought, but when you take a closer look at the implications of
    changing the clocks, its impact on our economy, our health, and
    our everyday lives, we can see that this practice is more than
    an annoyance.
        First, let us talk about energy savings, which has long
    been the most common justification for Daylight Saving Time.
    The original idea behind Daylight Saving Time was to reduce
    energy consumption, by making better use of daylight during the
    longer days of summer. The idea was simple, fewer hours of
    darkness meant less electricity consumption for lighting and
    heating.
        This concept might have made sense in the early 20th
    century, when our economy and our homes relied much more
    heavily on energy consumption tied to daylight hours.
        Today, the data show energy savings from Daylight Saving
    Time are de minimis if not entirely nonexistent, advances in
    technology, particularly in lighting and climate control, and
    increased domestic energy production, have drastically reduced
    the relative price of energy compared to the past, changing
    clocks biannually impacts our health.
        Research has shown that the abrupt shift in time,
    especially the spring transition, when we lose an hour of sleep
    disrupts our internal circadian rhythms and cause us sleep
    deprivation. This leads to increased risks of health problems,
    including higher rates of heart attacks, strokes, and even car
    accidents immediately following the time change.
        In fact, studies have shown that there is a spike in
    workplace injuries and fatal car crashes during the days after
    we shift our clocks forward. The disruption to sleep patterns
    and the result in fatigue can have consequences on our
    productivity, mental health, and well-being.
        The time change is also an inconvenience for families. For
    parents, especially those with young children, adjusting to the
    time change is no simple task, sleep disruptions can result in
    cranky children, restless nights, and a difficult adjustment
    period that can last for weeks.
        We also need to consider the economic and social impact.
    There are arguments that longer daylight hours in the evening
    can boost economic activity in certain sectors, such as retail,
    tourism, and entertainment.
        For instance, late afternoon golf leagues account for up to
    40 percent of the annual revenue of some courses, while a
    majority of golf instructors reported that nearly 50 percent of
    their lessons are taught after 4 p.m. A golf course would lose
    an estimated $500,000 annually if it lost the extra hour of
    daylight in the summer. Of course, the early birds who like 7
    a.m. tee times might be a bit annoyed with this shift.
        Many states and countries, like Mexico, and Russia, and
    Turkey, have already taken steps to move away from changing
    clocks twice a year. Hawaii and Arizona have opted out of the
    practice, and other countries in the past 10 years have either
    abolished it or are in the process of doing so.
        Congress has the authority to end this outdated and harmful
    practice. This hearing is an excellent opportunity to examine a
    thoughtful and rational approach to how we manage time. Whether
    we lock the clock on Standard Time year round or on Daylight
    Savings Time, let us think carefully about our health, our
    economy, and well-being, and embrace a sensible approach to
    time management. And I will now turn to Senator Blunt Rochester
    for her opening.

                STATEMENT OF HON. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM DELAWARE

        Senator Blunt Rochester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for
    holding this important hearing. In our increasingly connected
    world, it is more important than ever that we are thoughtful
    about what it would mean to pick a permanent time for our
    country. The Senate has tried this before, but the bill stalled
    as this body took a harder look at how time changes work state
    by state. What works in my home State of Delaware may not work
    in Washington State, But I know I speak for many Americans when
    I say it is time, it is time to figure this out.
        People across our country are tired of the constant cycle
    of falling back and springing forward. I mean, who has not
    forgotten to change their clock on their microwave, I think
    mine is still on the wrong time, and felt the immediate panic
    of waking up late for work? Or think about the parents of young
    children and pet owners who have to adjust sleep and feeding
    schedules twice a year.
        Some would say that these are just inconveniences. But the
    back and forth between Daylight Savings Time and Standard Time
    needs to change and needs to stop. We need to stop the clock.
    We need to find a solution and stick with it.
        Many states across our Nation have started to consider
    legislation to pick a permanent time. Some, like Delaware, have
    pushed for keeping Daylight Saving Time, the time we are in
    right now, permanently. Others have sought to keep the Standard
    Time, when we fall back, permanently.
        But here is the thing: these twice-yearly time changes have
    real impacts on real people. We know that changing the clock
    disrupts sleep, which can lead to negative health outcomes.
    Several studies have noted issues with mood disturbances,
    increased hospital admissions, and even heart attacks and
    strokes. We also know that being able to see the sun improves
    mental and physical health as well. But more than that, time
    changes can impact the safety of our communities. Darker
    commuting times increase the risk of injuries and even death on
    our way to school or work.
        My home state has one of the highest per capita rates of
    pedestrian fatalities, and dark roads with tired drivers make
    it more dangerous for pedestrians. The important thing is that
    we land on something consistent and make smart investments to
    keep people safe.
        For example, there were programs that we authorized in the
    Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that focused on commonsense
    safety improvements, but they are set to expire this Congress.
    I hope the committee will keep this discussion in mind when it
    comes time to reauthorize these infrastructure investments,
    investments that could light, or that could light up dark
    streets, add rumble strips to medians, turn chaotic
    intersections into roundabouts, and more. These are the kinds
    of smart policy choices we can make to protect people year-
    round, regardless of whether it is Daylight Saving Time or
    Standard Time.
        But the first step is getting us all on the same page. I am
    looking forward to today's conversation about the competing
    health, safety, and economic impacts of choosing a permanent
    time for our communities and moving the ball forward on this
    important issue.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I turn it back to you.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Blunt Rochester. And I
    have to say, I think you have set a land-speed record for
    moving from the chair on the end all the way here. And I will
    just say Senator Cantwell probably needs to watch her back. And
    I am somewhat disappointed in your excellent remarks that we
    did not get you belting out the chorus of Cher's ``If I Could
    Turn Back Time.''
        Senator Blunt Rochester. I told you it is something that
    peps us up. We need the energy.
        The Chairman. Joining us today is our friend Senator Rick
    Scott from the Sunshine State to give remarks on his
    legislation, the Sunshine Protection Act.
        Senator Scott, welcome back to the Commerce Committee.

                     STATEMENT OF HON. RICK SCOTT,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA

        Senator Scott. First off, Senator Cruz, thank you for the
    opportunity. And Senator Blunt Rochester, you have done a
    better job keeping your seat in this committee also than I was
    able to.
        Thanks for the introduction and the invitation to introduce
    my bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, to finally lock the
    clock. Senator Cruz, I know your morning, it has been a tough
    week for you with the NCAA Championship. I do look forward to
    the one----
        The Chairman. Your time has expired.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Scott. All right. My bipartisan, Bicameral Sunshine
    Protection Act that will end the twice-yearly time change and
    make Daylight Savings Time the national year-round standard. I
    have the support of 17 of my colleagues here in the Senate and
    a House companion led by my friend Congressman Vern Buchanan
    from the Great State of Florida.
        I am sure all of us have heard from our constituents on
    this. The American people are sick and tired of changing their
    clocks twice a year. It is confusing, unnecessary, and
    completely outdated. It is an understatement to say that our
    Nation has changed since the United States began changing the
    clock over a century ago. For example, American households have
    electricity now. We also have self-driving cars, computers, and
    cell phones.
        Now, changing the clocks twice a year proves more of an
    annoyance to families than a benefit to them. In 2018, when I
    was Governor of Florida, I signed legislation that would allow
    the state to opt out of the practice of changing the time, and
    nearly two dozen other states have done the same, pending
    Federal approval that will come by passing the Sunshine
    Protection Act.
        The American people love having an extra hour of sunlight,
    especially in my State of Florida, where that means more time
    you can enjoy outdoors and activities with families. Studies
    also show the potential for reduced cardiac issues, stroke, and
    seasonal depression, reduced robberies, and benefits to the
    agricultural and overall economy with an extra hour of
    sunlight. This is a common-sense change to simplify and benefit
    the lives of Americans, and we have a great opportunity to
    finally get this done with President Trump on board to lock the
    clock.
        I want to thank the Committee for the consideration of the
    Sunshine Protection Act. I am optimistic we can get this
    passed, signed into law, and finally lock the clock.
        Thank you.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Scott. You are welcome to
    stay if you like, but I know you have a busy schedule, so if
    you need to attend other responsibilities, you certainly can do
    so. And the game was great, except for the final minutes. I
    would have liked to lock the clock with 1 minute remaining.
        [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. That would have been an excellent idea.
        Our first witness this morning is Scott Yates, the Founder
    of the Lock the Clock Movement. Mr. Yates started the movement
    to remove the biannual chore of changing the clock.
        Our second witness is Jay Karen. He is the CEO of the
    National Golf Course Owners Association, where he represents
    thousands of golf course owners across the country.
        Our third witness today is Dr. Karen Johnson, a practicing
    sleep medicine physician and professor of neurology at the
    University of Massachusetts, Chan School of Medicine, Baystate,
    she is here on behalf of the American Academy of Sleep
    Medicine.
        Our final witness is Dr. David Harkey. Dr. Harkey is the
    President of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which
    is an organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries, and
    property damage from motor vehicle crashes.
        Mr. Yates, you may give your opening statement.

                  STATEMENT OF SCOTT YATES, FOUNDER,
                        LOCK THE CLOCK MOVEMENT

        Mr. Yates. Thank you so much, Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member
    Blunt Rochester, and members of the United States Commerce
    Committee. Thank you for inviting me--thank you for inviting me
    here today.
        Allow me to start with a hypothetical. Imagine two people
    commit the exact same crime on the exact same day, and they are
    the same in every way. But today, one of them is out of prison,
    and one of them remains behind bars.
        What is the difference? The second man was sentenced on the
    Monday after we spring forward into Daylight Saving Time.
    Researchers at the University of Washington reviewed every
    criminal sentence handed down in America over an 11-year
    period, and found the single harshest day of sentencing of the
    whole year was that Monday in March, when judges, like all of
    us, had been jolted awake an hour earlier than their bodies had
    been expecting.
        That one seemingly harmless Government mandate, dialing our
    clocks back one hour means some people received harsher
    sentences than they otherwise would.
        The harm does not stop there. Both of your opening
    statements alluded to all of the problems that we have, and
    peer-reviewed studies consistently show that heart attacks go
    up, strokes, car crashes, even miscarriages spike in those days
    following the spring switch.
        A study from the University of Vienna found deaths,
    overall, just increase by 3 percent in those couple of days
    after the change. Medical errors go up, diabetics lose glucose
    control, crime goes up. Just yesterday, the Journal of
    Neurology published a report saying that more people get
    migraines in the days after the time change.
        And why do we do this; for the farmers? No. The story about
    the farmers was always just a myth that was created as a PR
    stunt by a retailer in Boston who wanted more daylight for
    shoppers to have more time to shop. We thought it would sound
    better if we said it was for the farmers.
        If changing the time twice a year is so deadly and such an
    outdated relic, why have not we fixed it yet? It is probably
    because of this issue we face about whether we should lock into
    permanent daylight or permanent Standard Time. I have seen
    countless polls, and I have talked to thousands of people about
    this. Most people do not actually prefer one or the other that
    much. They just want to stop the switching. There are valid
    arguments for either permanent choice.
        So what should Congress do? What should this committee do?
    My name is Scott Yates. I have been reading, writing, and
    testifying about this for nearly a decade, and I have this
    recommendation: Lock the clock, as this bill says, but after a
    2-year implementation. If we wait until 2027, we will continue
    to allow states to opt out and opt into Standard Time, just as
    Hawaii and most of Arizona have done.
        This is fundamentally a states-rights issue and a geography
    issue. Consider Indiana, Indiana, Indianapolis is roughly the
    same latitude as New York City, but about 700 miles west. For
    Congress to force Hoosiers to walk, to go to work and school in
    the dark only to accommodate barbecues in New York City seems
    rude. But as the Commerce Committee, you do have an interest in
    promoting a stable and predictable environment for commerce.
        That is why I suggest, Congress establish a firm date,
    2027, to permanently end the clock changing nationwide. States
    would then have ample time to decide if they want to remain in
    Daylight Saving Time or opt out and pick Standard Time. They
    would not have the option to continue the deadly twice-yearly
    switching.
        With clear Federal guidance, schools can evaluate and pick
    their own bell times. Businesses can plan confidently, free
    from the confusion caused by time changes. And states would
    even have time to hold elections to let the people decide
    directly.
        I started my remarks with that study about the judges, the
    reason researchers could that, and find so many other ways that
    the time change is harmful is DSC creates what scientists call
    a natural experiment. Scientists can compare real-world results
    about what happens when the time changes.
        Interestingly, in traditional experiments with lab rats,
    scientists are careful not to change the clocks for Daylight
    Saving Time for the rats because it is too disruptive.
        So my closing question for you today is this: At long last,
    can we treat our citizens with the decency that we treat our
    lab rats?
        Thank you. And I am open to any questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Yates follows:]

        Prepared Statement of Scott Yates, Founder, www.LockTheClock.net
        Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members of the U.S.
    Senate Commerce Committee, Thank you for inviting me here today.
        Allow me to start with a hypothetical. Imagine two identical people
    commit the exact same crime on the exact same day. They are the same in
    every way, but today one of them is out of prison rebuilding his life,
    while the other remains behind bars, draining state resources.
        What is the difference?
        The second man was sentenced the Monday after we ``spring forward''
    into Daylight Saving Time. Researchers at the University of Washington
    reviewed every criminal sentence handed down in America over an 11-year
    period and found the single harshest day of sentencing was that Monday
    in March, when judges, like all
        of us, had been jolted awake an hour earlier than their bodies
    expected. That one seemingly harmless act--dialing back our clocks one
    hour--means some people receive harsher sentences than they otherwise
    would.
        The harm doesn't stop there.
        Peer-reviewed studies consistently show that heart attacks,
    strokes, car crashes, and even miscarriages spike in the days following
    the spring switch. One study from the University of Vienna found that
    overall deaths increased by 3 percent following this annual clock
    change. Studies show other problems: Medical errors spike. Diabetics
    lose glucose control. Crime goes up. People are less empathetic and
    helpful.
        And why do we do this? For farmers?
        No. The story about farmers was always just a myth, created as a PR
    stunt by a retailer in Boston who wanted shoppers to have more daylight
    after work. He thought it would sound better to say it was for farmers.
        If changing the time twice a year is a deadly, outdated relic, why
    haven't we ﬁxed it yet? I suspect it's because we're all too
    groggy after the time change to decide. But the real issue is simpler:
    we can't agree whether to adopt permanent Standard Time or permanent
    Daylight Time.
        I've seen countless polls and talked with thousands of people--most
    don't strongly prefer one time over the other; they just hate the
    switching. There are valid arguments for either permanent choice.
        So, what should Congress do?
        My name is Scott Yates and I've been reading and writing about this
    as a hobby for nearly a decade, and I have this recommendation: Lock
    the clock into permanent DST in two years, in 2027, while continuing to
    allow each state to opt out and remain in Standard Time if it decides
    to do so, as Hawaii and Arizona have already decided.
        This is fundamentally a states' rights issue.
        Consider Indiana. Indianapolis is roughly the same latitude as New
    York City but about 700 miles west. For Congress to force Hoosiers to
    commute and send children to school in winter darkness, only to
    accommodate barbecues in New York, feels . . . rude.
        But as the Commerce Committee, you do have an interest in promoting
    a stable and predictable environment for commerce.
        That's why I suggest Congress establish a ﬁrm date--2027--to
    permanently end clock-changing nationwide. States would then have ample
    time to decide if they want to do nothing and remain in Daylight Time
    or opt out and pick Standard Time. They wouldn't have the option to
    continue the deadly twice-yearly switching.
        With clear Federal guidance, schools can evaluate optimal start
    times and businesses can plan conﬁdently, free from the confusion
    caused by time changes. States would even have time to hold elections
    to let the people decide directly.
        I started my remarks with that study about judges. The reason
    researchers could do that--and ﬁnd in so many other ways that the
    time change is harmful--is that DST creates what scientists call a
    ``natural experiment.'' Scientists can compare real world results about
    what happens with the time changes.
        Interestingly, in traditional experiments with lab rats, scientists
    are careful not to change the clocks for DST. It's too disruptive.
        So my closing question for you today is this: At long last, can we
    put aside partisanship and take action to treat our citizens at least
    as well as we treat our lab rats?
        Thank you, and I look forward to any and all questions.
        For a full briefing book, a state-by-state analysis, and a summary
    of the voluminous research into this topic, please see
    www.LockTheClock.net.

        The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Yates, for a very interesting
    testimony.
        Mr. Karen.

    STATEMENT OF JAY KAREN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NATIONAL GOLF
                       COURSE OWNERS ASSOCIATION

        Mr. Karen. Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Chairman
    Cruz, Senator Blunt Rochester, and members of the Committee,
    for asking me to enter testimony on behalf of the members of
    the National Golf Course Owners Association on a pretty complex
    issue.
        We are headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and
    represent approximately 4,000 public courses, private clubs,
    municipal courses, and resorts throughout the United States. A
    little bit about the golf economy, many elected friends see
    golf simply as a game until it is time to talk about taxes,
    land use, water, employment matters, tourism, zoning, et
    cetera.
        What comes into view is a $102 billion industry employing
    nearly two million people across 15,000 properties and two
    million acres of land so that nearly 30 million Americans can
    enjoy a great walk outdoors with strangers, friends, and family
    while hitting a little white ball.
        Little known fact: 75 percent of golf courses in America
    are open to the public, and nearly $5 billion each year is
    raised for charitable causes through golf. I also understand
    golf outings can be an effective fundraiser for political
    campaigns. The health benefits of golf are well documented, so
    we tend to vehemently disagree with Mark Twain's assessment of
    golf as ``a good walk spoiled''.
        Now, about the clock, locking the clock does not change how
    much daylight we have, just where it shows up on the clock. For
    golf and many outdoor activities, a shift can have significant
    economic and wellness implications. Golf thrives on what we
    call recreational daylight, the overlap of sunlight and
    people's availability to be outdoors.
        Americans overwhelmingly prefer evening recreation over
    early morning. This is not just about golf, it is about soccer,
    jogging, walking, biking, tennis, and so much more. Making
    Standard Time permanent would shift 1 hour per day from
    recreational to non-recreational daylight. Simplistically, it
    trades 8 p.m. for 8 a.m. At golf courses, later hours generate
    about 40 percent more revenue per hour than early mornings.
        Trading backward would cost the average public golf course
    at least 7 to 8 percent of their annual revenue by removing the
    best inventory we have on our shelves, which is approximately
    37 million rounds of golf, and would cost the industry at least
    $1.6 billion or nearly $200,000 per course. This analysis only
    includes green fee revenue, and does not include spending on
    golf car rentals, merchandise, food and beverage, golf lessons,
    and other areas of the business.
        Thus, only 7 percent of our members support making Standard
    Time permanent. Those who favor Standard Time year-round say
    their morning play is more valuable to them than their
    afternoon play. These may be resorts that want players off the
    course and in the restaurants at a reasonable hour.
        Now, making Daylight Saving Time permanent would provide
    additional recreational daylight from November to March and
    would add an estimated 23 million rounds to the current golf
    inventory. This would give the industry a tailwind of about $1
    billion, or roughly $250,000 per affected facility. Sixty-four
    percent of our members support making Daylight Saving Time
    permanent. The status quo, changing of our clocks twice per
    year, avoids both the significant downside while forfeiting the
    moderate upside.
        Twenty-seven percent of golf course owners and operators
    support keeping the status quo of changing the clocks. Many
    golf courses slow down in the winter and enjoy having some
    relief later in the day for their employees with the sun
    setting earlier. Or they may have a healthy clientele of older
    players who would prefer no disruption to their 7 a.m. tee time
    or their eleven o'clock bridge game. Keep in mind all these
    figures do not include thousands of private clubs, which would
    augment the impacts in both directions by an enormous sum.
        In conclusion, the Senate is facing a classic Gordian knot.
    There will be winners and losers no matter which way the knot
    is cut. But our members clearly prefer Daylight Saving Time and
    strongly oppose permanent Standard Time.
        We recognize the sleep-related arguments for Standard Time,
    but the benefits of extended daylight for physical and mental
    health, outdoor recreation, and public safety are significant.
    Obesity, depression, and crime all have ties to reduced
    daylight and sedentary lifestyles.
        So in short, we urge the Senate to avoid the consequences
    of permanent Standard Time. We encourage solutions that
    preserve evening daylight for golf, for health, for recreation,
    and local economies.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Karen follows:]

           Prepared Statement of Jay Karen, Chief Executive Officer,
                    National Golf Course Owners Association
        Thank you, Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell and members of
    the Committee for allowing me to enter testimony on behalf of the
    members of the National Golf Course Owners Association. I sincerely
    appreciate the time you are setting aside for a discussion about a
    complex and consequential matter.
        My name is Jay Karen, Chief Executive Officer of the National Golf
    Course Owners Association. NGCOA, headquartered in Charleston, South
    Carolina, represents over 4,000 small businesses throughout America and
    serves as a vital resource for owners, operators, and general managers
    of various types of golf facilities, including privately-owned public
    courses, private clubs, municipal courses and resorts. The NGCOA
    provides business-critical information, education, networking
    opportunities, and advocacy to help our members and the greater
    industry operate their golf facilities efficiently and sustainably.
    Golf as Part of the U.S. Culture, Land and Economy
        While golf is often seen as a game enjoyed by a small, yet
    passionate group of people, golf has long been entrenched in the fabric
    of American society as one of the Nation's leading participation
    sports. In addition to our rich history, both at the professional and
    recreational levels, golf is a dynamic, growing and evolving industry
    that's impacting the broader United States economy in a wide variety of
    ways.
        A few tidbits about the golf industry:

       28.1 million Americans played golf in 2024 on over 15,000
            golf courses in the United States, laid out across 2 million
            acres of cared-for land (about the size of Delaware and Rhode
            Island combined), of which nearly 80 percent of golf courses
            are public access. Golf's goodness was showcased during the
            most difficult COVID years, as millions of people flocked to
            the Nation's courses for the very first time for much-needed
            outdoor recreation.

       Golf is an activity and business with a large economic
            footprint that spurs millions to travel, make purchases, and
            build and buy houses connected to golf. The business of golf
            drove $101.7 billion in economic activity throughout the U.S.
            in 2022, an increase of 20 percent over 2016. Golf tourism
            overall is the second-biggest economic driver in the industry,
            with golfers generating over $31 billion in travel-related golf
            expenditures within the U.S. Today, golf has an extended
            economic impact of over $226 billion, providing 1.65 million
            Americans with quality employment opportunities.

       Golf leads all other sporting industries in charitable
            giving, raising close to $5 billion through nearly 150,000
            charitable golf events at more than 80 percent of all golf
            courses. Golf also tends to be an effective fundraiser for
            political campaigns!

       Golf provides valuable green space, as trees and turfgrass
            at courses improve air quality by producing oxygen and trapping
            pollutants, thus preventing them from reaching groundwater
            supplies. U.S. golf courses, which also serve as sanctuaries
            for a wide variety of plants and animals, continue to exhibit
            dramatic input reductions, savings, and technological
            advancements when it comes to environmental sustainability.
            Perhaps most notable is the industry's management of its most
            precious resource--water--with usage at golf courses dropping
            29 percent since 2005.

       Golf delivers value in ways beyond jobs, revenue, taxes, and
            multiplier effects. Golf is a lifestyle, a community asset, and
            a positive contributor to physical, mental and social wellness.
            Playing golf offers significant health benefits by promoting
            physical activity, mental wellness, and social connection. A
            typical 18-hole round involves walking 4-6 miles and burning up
            to 2,000 calories. Studies show golfers have a 40 percent lower
            mortality rate than non-golfers of the same age. The sport also
            supports mental health, particularly for adults aged 35-49, who
            report using golf as a way to reduce stress and recharge. In
            2022, 97 percent of U.S. golf facilities hosted programs to
            expand recreational access, underscoring golf's role as a
            community wellness asset. Golf combines exercise, nature, and
            friendship into a sustainable lifelong activity.
    Day in the Life of a Golf Course Operator--Sun-Up to Sun-Down
        A golf course operator's day starts before dawn, coordinating with
    maintenance crews and reviewing the tee sheet and weather. As players
    arrive, they oversee operations, monitor pace of play, and handle early
    food and beverage service. Midday brings office tasks, course checks,
    and managing staff or guests. Afternoons shift toward twilight play,
    lunch traffic, and planning upcoming events or communications. Evenings
    focus on closing duties, cart returns, and prepping for the next day.
    It's a fast-paced blend of hospitality, logistics, and fieldwork,
    balancing customer experience, team management, and revenue across
    changing daylight, weather, and play patterns. No two days are ever the
    same.
        Sunrise and sunset directly shape a golf course operator's daily
    play window, staffing needs, and revenue potential. Tee times are
    scheduled based on available daylight, with early starts shortly after
    sunrise and final rounds finishing at sunset. Some courses, like Pebble
    Beach Golf Links, even have lights in the trees on the finishing green
    to accommodate golfers trying to squeeze in every last bit of play.
    Seasonal shifts in daylight affect how many rounds can be played,
    staffing schedules, and the timing of events or maintenance. Operators
    use this information to plan twilight pricing, ensure safety, and
    optimize food, beverage, and cart operations. In short, daylight hours
    are the framework for nearly every operational and financial decision
    on the course, impacting both the guest experience and the bottom line.
        Seasonal changes in sunrise, sunset, and weather, especially frost,
    significantly impact how golf operators plan each day. In winter, even
    if sunrise is technically around 7:30 AM, play may be delayed until
    9:00 or later due to frost, which can damage turf if disturbed. This
    reduces the number of playable hours and limits tee time availability.
    As a result, operators often start later, compress the tee sheet, and
    reduce staffing. In contrast, summer offers long days with early
    sunrises and late sunsets, allowing more tee times, twilight play, and
    higher revenue potential. Maintenance also adjusts seasonally--crews
    may need to shift schedules to prepare the course before first light in
    summer, while winter prep happens in a tighter window. Event planning,
    F&B hours, and dynamic pricing models must all be adapted to the
    season's light and weather. In short, seasonal daylight and frost risk
    are critical variables in maximizing playability, revenue, and turf
    health.
    Recreational Daylight--The Industry's Lifeblood
        We know that ``locking the clock'' doesn't increase or decrease the
    number of daylight hours for any service provider in any geographies
    around the US; it simply changes where that daylight occurs on our
    clocks. Why does this matter to golf? Golf relies on what we call
    ``Recreational Daylight,'' which are the hours of the day that line up
    with the sun's light and people's general availability to be outside to
    enjoy recreational activity. Historically people are inclined to pursue
    recreation and outdoor activities at a higher rate for ``after-dinner''
    than ``before-breakfast'' daylight. Proposed changes to ``locking the
    clock'' would have the following effect for golf:

       Making Standard Time permanent would shift one hour per day
            for every course in the country (in their respective season
            lengths) from recreational to non-recreational daylight (i.e.,
            trades 8PM for 8AM).

       Making Daylight Saving Time permanent would provide
            additional recreational daylight hours for dates in November to
            March. Two distinctions: Northern facilities wouldn't benefit
            as much, because these are non-season months due to temps/snow,
            etc, and these months are also peak season for the snowbird
            locations such as FL and AZ

        Latitude matters in golf relative to how daylight length varies
    during the year. Perhaps the best way to explain this is to look at the
    daylight length at June summer solstice in northern latitudes vs. a
    south U.S. benchmark:

       Miami, FL (benchmark)--13 hrs 45 mins of daylight

       Minneapolis, MN--15 hrs 37 mins of daylight (almost 2 hours
            more!)

       Seattle, WA--15 hrs 59 mins (+ 2 hrs)

       Sioux Falls, SD--15 hrs 36 mins (+ 2 hrs)

       East Lansing, MI--15 hrs 21 mins (+1.5 hrs)

       Buffalo, NY--15 hrs 21 mins (+1.5 hrs)

       Boston, MA--15 hrs 17 mins (+1.5 hrs)

        In a formula that adjusts for weather, this means that a course in
    Minneapolis has room for 50+ more golfers per day than Miami on the
    same date. The Minneapolis course will continue to have more daily
    capacity than a course in Miami through the autumnal equinox in
    September. This relationship plays out across the northern U.S.

       Northern courses benefit from the annual daylight
            distribution naturally.

       This is also a factor fueling why golf participation is
            significantly higher in northern vs. southern states.

        Golf courses in general generate higher revenue in later-day vs.
    early-morning hours. Based on analyzing a range of courses and their
    Point of Sale (PoS) data for revenue by hour, the distribution below
    illustrates revenue as an average representation:

        Afternoon and evening daylight revenue is approximately 40 percent
    higher than before-lunch hours for the average golf facility. Hence,
    trading-backwards (eliminating DST) is going to cost the average
    operator about 7-8 percent of their annual revenue.
        Here is a look at the impact--either direction--on approximately
    8,000 public, regulation-length golf courses in the United States. This
    economic picture only includes the gain or loss in green fee revenue,
    and does not include the impact on spending on golf cart rental,
    merchandise, food and beverage, golf lessons and other areas of the
    business. Keep in mind this does not include thousands of private
    clubs, which would augment the impacts in both directions.

       Making Standard Time Permanent would cost all states golf
            revenue to the tune of $1.6B or 7.5 percent of their total
            annual green fee income, or approximately $162,000 per course.

       Making Daylight Saving Time permanent gives the industry
            about half that increment of a tailwind of $1B or 4.6 percent
            of green fee income, or approximately $250,000 per facility.

       Leaving the clock changing as-is obviously avoids both the
            significant downside while forfeiting the moderate upside.
    Daylight Saving Time--Industry Sentiment
        83 percent of NGCOA course owners and operators surveyed feel a
    permanent change to Daylight Saving Time would benefit the overall
    success and viability of their businesses, though a lesser 64 percent
    support making Daylight Saving Time permanent. Our assumption is that
    the gap represents those who don't believe the change and related
    disruptions to business and lives are worth it.

        To illustrate additional complexities of this, golf course
    superintendents employed at golf courses report only 40 percent of
    their surveyed members feel a move to permanent DST would benefit the
    success and viability of their work, with 33 percent being unsure and
    27 percent saying it would not be helpful.
        Below are direct comments on Daylight Saving Time from industry
    practitioners:

            As an owner-operator of the largest private country club in
            Indiana, staying on Daylight Saving Time is the best for all
            outdoor activities. Whether it's pickleball, golf, outdoor
            dining, boating, walking, etc., people use more time in the
            evening than in the morning. When I moved to Indiana 12 years
            ago, one of my favorite intangibles was the amount of daylight
            in the evenings. You can play golf in Indiana until 9:30.
            That's amazing and it means that members are playing 18 holes
            well past the traditional end of the workday.

            Even though we are in the far western portion of the Eastern
            time zone, I still wish I had even more daylight in the
            evenings and I dread when we go back to Standard Time in
            November. It's the end of February, and we can be outside until
            6:30. I wish we were on Daylight Savings time today and I could
            be outside until 7:30 on this 60-degree, February day.

            As a golf teacher, I am able to teach the public after they are
            done with their workday, therefore extending my ability to
            generate revenue. However, due to maintenance, I am unable to
            teach in the mornings.

            We are in the Central Time Zone but within 10 miles of Eastern
            Time. In the winters, it gets dark here at 4:00 pm. If you have
            a long frost delay, it can really limit the number of tee times
            that could finish 18 holes before dark.

            At our daily fee municipal golf course, we feel as if going to
            permanent Daylight Saving would be more beneficial in the long
            run to our revenue stream based on the amount of play after
            people get off of work. The maintenance crew's working time
            would be the same (they start working 1 hour before sunrise).
            Standard time would take golfers away after work and we do not
            see many people showing up way early to get their round in.

            Permanent Daylight Saving Time is a big positive for golf and
            other recreation activities including youth and adult baseball,
            soccer, football, tennis, pickleball, etc. More outdoor
            recreation activities occur in the evening. More evening light
            increases participation and revenue while also decreasing
            lighting expenses at outdoor fields.

            Evening golf generates more after work activity including
            serving dinner. We would align our morning shifts with new
            sunrise times. Early morning players might be put off by
            starting later, but they will adjust. These are generally the
            lowest revenue players. I am all in on Permanent Daylight
            Saving Time.

            Having an extra hour of daylight for the evening hours provides
            us with more revenue opportunities than opening the tee sheet
            earlier. We have many more golfers who prefer to play 9-holes
            after work than those who would come at say 5:00-5:30 am.
    Standard Time--Industry Sentiment
        9 percent of NGCOA members feel a permanent change to Standard Time
    would benefit the overall success and viability of their businesses,
    and 7 percent support making Standard Time permanent. While some course
    owners feel Standard Time would support the morning-heavy businesses
    they run, most respondents feel a move to permanent Standard Time would
    negatively impact their ability to generate revenue, to maintain
    optimal conditions on the course, to have reasonable working hours for
    their employees and their ability to provide safety and security at
    their businesses.
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        To illustrate additional complexities of this, golf course
    superintendents report only 19 percent of their surveyed members feel a
    move to permanent Standard Time would benefit the success and viability
    of their businesses, with 35 percent being unsure and 46 percent saying
    it would not be helpful.
        Comments on Standard Time from industry practitioners:

            We are in a resort vacation area and our busiest times are
            mornings. Most visitors have evening dinner or other plans.
            Morning help is also easier to find than evening help.

            I am unsure how changing to DST would affect our business, as
            we don't play golf in the winter. However, moving to ST would
            significantly negatively impact our business. We have a
            significant amount of late afternoon play. No-one will want to
            play at 4 am, but a number of people play at 6 pm and wouldn't
            finish before dark if ST was implemented.

            We are providing golf during DST under the current system. So
            in MN it would offer no change to the golf season. However,
            Standard Time would be terrible for MN golfers. It already is
            light so early in the summer here (with DST) that taking away
            that extra hour of evening golf would be no good. We don't need
            it to be light at 4 AM under the Standard time system.

            Although ST would allow some courses to have grounds
            maintenance start earlier, many courses may not be able to take
            advantage of the earlier start due to local noise ordinances.

            When working a 12-month calendar, having earlier leave times at
            the end of the day is needed. Going home later will make hiring
            more difficult if it is for extended time. The winter months
            are a needed break and allow employees to spend more time with
            their families.

            Permanent Standard time would cause income loss that would be
            devastating to our public course!

            A change to Permanent Standard Time would devastate the revenue
            we are able to generate. I am currently able to sell early
            morning tee times, then host a late-morning golf outing and an
            evening after-work golf league. Losing an hour of evening light
            would only be able to sell it twice.

            Standard Time would be a disaster for golf & outdoor
            recreation. If we lock into Standard Time year-round, here's
            what we're facing:

         4:30 AM sunrises that no one benefits from.

         An impossible hiring situation for maintenance crews
                starting at 3:30 AM.

         Tee sheets with massive gaps in the morning and no
                twilight rounds to make up for it.

         Leagues, tournaments, and evening events canceled or
                severely limited.

         A massive economic hit--not just to golf, but to all
                outdoor recreation and tourism.

            If we had permanent Standard time it would affect our ability
            to get the maintenance out early in the morning due to the
            timing of the local noise ordinances. We may actually lose some
            of those morning times because we would have to start later in
            the day. The one positive I would see in permanent Standard
            time is being able to get golf shop and cart staff home a
            little earlier. Here in Idaho it is light until almost 10 pm in
            June/July and cart staff especially can be here until 11 pm.

            Going to a permanent DST would reduce my facility's revenue by
            over $144,000 by eliminating my first hour of tee times, 7am to
            8 am. Additionally, adjusting maintenance schedules to avoid
            working in the dark is not desirable.

            The high fixed costs of maintaining a golf course (or any
            business) would remain the same whether or not we are on
            standard time or daylight savings time. A typical 18 hole golf
            course in Michigan budgets approximate 50 percent of their
            overall expenses to go to course maintenance. So with that lost
            revenue, and the same fixed costs for a business where does
            that leave a business to cut? The job impact in Michigan from
            the golf industry is 60,000! How will that affect the economic
            health of Michigan?
    Status Quo--Industry Sentiment
        27 percent of NGCOA members support keeping the current status of
    changing the clocks twice per year. And as we identified previously,
    there is a 19 percent gap between those who say Daylight Saving will
    benefit their business and a desire to actually lock the clock on DST.
    It can be interpreted that between a quarter and one-third of our
    members would prefer that we keep changing the clocks twice per year.
    Many golf courses in areas that slow down in the winter and receive
    modest play enjoy having some relief later in the day for their
    employees with the sun setting earlier. Thus, many enjoy the changing
    of the clocks with the changing of the seasons for workplace culture
    benefits.
        Comments on Status Quo from industry practitioners:
            Since we are not open for golf in the winter months, switching
            to DST permanently would not have much effect on our operation.
            Switching to ST would not benefit us as we would not start
            earlier in the morning, and would lose time in the evening for
            golf revenue.
            DST in the winter would result in not opening until well after
            10:00 on certain days due to frost. Thus likely causing a
            significant loss of morning rounds (seniors) in the winter
            without any gain in the evening due to sunset at 6:00 (not
            enough time for golf after work). ST in the summer would
            obviously significantly impact league and evening play without
            an offsetting gain in the morning with sunrise being before
            5:00 a.m. for much of the summer. Our best scenario is the
            current system of switching between DST & ST.
            For the Florida golf industry, a change to permanent Daylight
            Saving time would cost us lots of revenue as it would be darker
            and longer in the winter mornings. This is the time of year
            that Florida clubs make all or most of their money. Golfers do
            not play in the evening in the winter, so we would see no
            additional revenue during the winter months. The status quo
            makes the best sense for the Florida golf industry.
            This issue is far bigger than golf. It's also for the safety of
            children so they don't have to go to school in the dark in
            winter. Anyone who puts business profitability over the safety
            of American children is, in my opinion, on the wrong side of
            history. Also, to all of the people who want to eliminate the
            practice of changing clocks twice a year. . . . . why? What
            legitimate reason do they have other than they don't like it?
            Making DST permanent would bring in more revenue in the short
            term. However, costs would also increase, and employees' work/
            life balance would also be affected. Evening times are great
            for those with families and family commitments. Adding more
            sunlight hours during this time would affect that. I don't see
            many clubs adding additional staff, even if their revenue
            streams increase.
    Conclusion
        The golf industry is acutely aware of how making potential changes
    to the clock by eliminating either Daylight Saving Time or Standard
    Time is a modern-day Gordian Knot for lawmakers. There will be winners
    and losers no matter which way the knot is cut. Data and sentiment from
    the golf industry, though, reveal a clear favorability toward permanent
    Daylight Saving Time. Overall, permanent DST is viewed as more
    beneficial to the golf industry particularly for small business
    revenue, accessibility to the game, and general recreational enjoyment
    and benefits. Our industry is uniquely tied to daylight, and the number
    of playable hours directly affects the number of rounds we can offer,
    the staff we employ, and the revenue we generate, especially in the
    late afternoon and early evening.
        The National Golf Course Owners Association does not take a formal
    position on whether Congress should make Daylight Saving Time
    permanent, because a healthy portion of our members prefer the status
    quo. However, while a very small percentage of our members favor
    Standard Time, we want to make it clear that we oppose any proposal to
    make Standard Time permanent and year-round for the entire nation.
    Permanent Standard Time would result in earlier sunsets for most of the
    year, particularly in spring, summer, and early fall, the peak seasons
    for most of our industry. This shift would eliminate critical late-day
    tee times and reduce twilight leagues, after-work play, food-and-
    beverage revenue, cart fees and more. In some regions, 25-40 percent of
    daily rounds begin after 3:00 p.m. Permanent Standard Time would put
    much of that business at risk. Beyond revenue, this would hurt seasonal
    employment, fundraising events for charities, and accessibility for
    working golfers who rely on evening hours. These economic impacts would
    be most severe in states with long seasons and large golf economies,
    such as Florida, California, Arizona, and the Carolinas, as well as the
    Northern tier, seasonal and golf-dense places like Michigan,
    Pennsylvania, New York, New England and the Pacific Northwest.
        While we sympathize with some of the sleep-related arguments for
    permanent Standard Time, we believe the counterweight of outside
    activity in the latter parts of the day provides significant health
    benefits that cannot be ignored. Child and adult obesity can be stemmed
    through sun-lit play and exercise outdoors. Hikers, joggers and bikers
    are at greater safety risk--or may choose not to participate--with
    earlier sunsets. The biological benefits of sunlight and related
    Vitamin D are well documented, including improved immune functions,
    bone health and positive mental health. In short, a reduction in active
    hours would likely lead to further health issues caused by a more
    sedentary lifestyle. Ample research supports serious crime reduction
    being correlated with increased daylight. We would rather see the
    Senate favor the status quo over permanent Standard Time.
        We ask the Senate to consider the practical and economic
    consequences of losing evening daylight. We encourage policymakers to
    explore solutions that preserve extended daylight, which supports not
    only golf but also greater outdoor recreation, tourism, hospitality,
    good health and local economies.
        We extend our gratitude to the following people and organizations
    for contributing information and insight to our written testimony:

       Ronnie Miles, Senior Director of Advocacy, National Golf
            Course Owners Association

       Thomas Smith, Chief Operating Officer, National Golf Course
            Owners Association

       Jim Koppenhaver, Principal, Pellucid Corporation

       Stuart Lindsay, President, Edgehill Golf Advisors

       Greg Nathan, President and CEO, National Golf Foundation

       David Lorentz, Chief Research Officer, National Golf
            Foundation

       Greg McLaughlin, CEO, World Golf Foundation

       Chava McKeel, Director of Government Affairs, Golf Course
            Superintendents Association of America

        The Chairman. Thank you. Dr. Johnson.

       STATEMENT OF DR. KARIN JOHNSON, PRACTICING PHYSICIAN AND
         PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY, UMASS CHAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
     BAYSTATE--ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF SLEEP MEDICINE

        Dr. Johnson. Thank you, Chairman Cruz, Senator Blunt
    Rochester, distinguished Members of the Senate. Thank you for
    having me.
        My name is Dr. Karin Johnson. As stated, I am a neurologist
    and practicing sleep medicine specialist in Massachusetts, and
    I am here representing the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
        I want to extend my gratitude to Chairman Cruz for having
    this timely committee hearing. In December, President Trump
    called to end Daylight Saving Time, and his Make America
    Healthy Commission's mandate to reduce chronic diseases,
    especially in children, aligns with permanent Standard Time.
    Unfortunately, permanent Daylight Saving Time and the Sunshine
    Protection Act do the opposite.
        So I have three main takeaways. First, the spring clock
    change to Daylight Saving Time is bad, but permanent Daylight
    Saving Time is worse.
        Second, year-round Standard Time is the natural, healthy
    choice promoting physical health, mental health, performance,
    and safety.
        Third, history supports that permanent Standard Time is the
    only viable solution to end seasonal clock change.
        So let me elaborate. The majority of Americans do
    consistently want to lock the clock but have been more
    inconsistent about how to ditch the switch. But in March, there
    was a new Gallup Poll that just showed a significant shift in
    public opinion, with twice as many Americans now supporting
    permanent Standard Time over permanent Daylight Saving Time.
    Sixty percent of Americans and 80 percent of teens do not get
    the recommended amount of sleep, so there is a lot of room to
    improve sleep.
        Think about how you or your children feel after a bad night
    of sleep. Maybe you forgot an important meeting, drifted out of
    your lane, eaten that extra bowl of ice cream. I know I have
    done those things. You may have struggled to get your teenager
    out of bed, or been a little short with your husband.
        Now instead, think about how much better you feel and
    function after a good night's sleep. Permanent Standard Time
    would give more Americans the opportunity to improve their
    sleep without even trying. The sun is one of the most powerful
    drivers of health and well-being, but the timing of sunlight is
    what is critically important. Without enough morning light or
    with too much evening light, our circadian rhythms delay. This
    disrupts our sleep patterns and our body and brain functions.
        Permanent Daylight Saving Time would cause sunrises after 8
    a.m. for two to four months every winter, depriving us of this
    critical morning light. This is why permanent Daylight Saving
    Time would be exponentially worse than seasonal Daylight Saving
    Time.
        The adverse effects are greatest in our children, our
    teenagers, and other night owls whose bodies' clocks already
    run late. As discussed, there are many harmful benefits that
    occur in the days after this change, especially in the spring,
    to Daylight Saving Time, including more strokes and heart
    attacks. As highlighted in the prior testimony, brain function
    is really affected by sleep. And so, we heard about judges
    making harsher statements.
        However, these harms do not mean that permanent Daylight
    Saving Time would be better. Instead, the later sunrises and
    sunsets of Daylight Saving Time lead to higher risks of chronic
    diseases including, but not limited to, cancer, diabetes, heart
    disease, obesity, and these outweigh the short-term risks of
    what happens with the time change.
        There is also data that says that permanent Standard Time
    also results in better mental health outcomes, including
    reducing rates of depression and suicide, this is not
    surprising, as morning light and healthy sleep are known
    treatments for depression. On the other hand, poor sleep
    increases the risk of drug use, alcohol use, and other risk-
    taking behaviors.
        There are some misconceptions I want to address. As
    discussed, permanent Daylight Saving Time does not make days
    longer, nor is it the reason why people feel better in the
    summer. Instead, permanent Daylight Saving Time is a hidden
    mandate to wake Americans up an hour earlier rather--to their
    alarm clocks rather than the sun.
        If we called it the ``Go to Work an Hour Earlier Act''
    rather than the ``Sunshine Protection Act'', no one would be
    voting for it. Permanent Daylight Savings Time does not
    increase overall exercise levels in the U.S., and even if some
    people exercise more, obesity, and heart disease, these chronic
    diseases are still more prevalent.
        There is no--while darkness comes with health and safety
    risks, Daylight Saving Time is not the solution. There is no
    data to support that permanent Daylight Saving Time would
    reduce overall crime or motor vehicle crashes. Instead, later
    sunrises and sunsets are associated with 20 percent more fatal
    crashes.
        The negative impact of Daylight Saving Time on sleep and
    our brain health harms the economy, workers, especially those
    with early start times before 8:30, think of your farmers, your
    transportation workers, your factory workers are less likely to
    be productive and efficient. Workplace injuries rise after the
    transition to Daylight Saving Time, and health care spending
    increases.
        On the other hand, permanent Standard Time improves
    academic success in our children with higher test scores. Your
    constituents' utility bills will be lower with permanent
    Standard Time by reducing heating and cooling costs.
        And finally, the U.S. tried and quickly abandoned permanent
    Daylight Saving Time twice before, most recently in 1974. It
    just does not work. It will not last. For those that are
    serious about ending clock changes, permanent Standard Time is
    the only viable solution.
        Please refer to my written testimony for more details. And
    I am happy to look forward to the questions later.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Johnson follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Karin Johnson, MD, FAAN, FAASM, Professor of
        Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine-
       Baystate, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Advocacy Committee
             Member Co-Chair, Coalition for Permanent Standard Time
     Permanent Standard Time: the Naturally Healthy and Lasting Way to End
                                  Clock Change
        Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and Distinguished Members
    of the Senate:

        My name is Dr. Karin Johnson. I am a practicing sleep medicine
    specialist and neurologist at UMASS Chan School of Medicine-Baystate. I
    received my undergraduate degree from Harvard University and medical
    degree at University of Chicago. I trained in neurology at Brown
    University and sleep medicine at Harvard University. My primary focus
    is clinical sleep medicine. My research centers on how sleep disorders
    and sleep health impact overall health and brain function. My support
    for permanent Standard Time stems from my commitment to promoting sleep
    health and brain health on a larger scale.
        Today, I appear in my personal capacity as a sleep medicine
    physician, a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Advocacy
    Committee and the Co-Chair of the Coalition for permanent Standard
    Time. This coalition includes the American Academy of Sleep Medicine,
    Sleep Research Society, Society for Research on Biological Rhythms,
    National Sleep Foundation and the non-profit Save Standard Time. Please
    note that the views expressed in my testimony do not necessarily
    reflect those of my employer.
        Thank you for inviting me to speak at this important hearing. I
    commend this committee for thoughtfully considering changes to Daylight
    Saving Time (DST), particularly in regard to its impact on the health
    and wellbeing of the American people. I echo President Trump's call to
    end Daylight Saving Time.\1\ Permanent Standard time aligns with his
    executive order establishing the Make America Healthy commission to
    protect the wellbeing of the Nation and especially of our children. The
    Sunshine Protection Act for permanent Daylight Saving Time would do the
    opposite.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ (Bink, 2024)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        In my professional opinion and that of other scientific and medical
    societies including but not limited to the American Academy of Sleep
    Medicine, American Academy of Neurology, and the National Safety
    Council, permanent Standard Time offers multiple positive benefits for
    physical and mental health, safety and performance.
        My testimony will focus on:

      1.  The harms of the spring clock change to Daylight Saving Time and
            the greater risks of year-round Daylight Saving Time.

      2.  Permanent Standard Time is the natural, healthy choice offering
            multiple long-term benefits to physical health, mental health,
            safety and performance.

      3.  History supports year-round Standard Time as the only viable
            solution to end clock change.

        The majority of Americans have consistently called for an end to
    seasonal clock changes. Last month, President Trump held off on action,
    stating that he perceived the public as evenly split on which clock
    should be made permanent. However, the same week, a national Gallop
    poll revealed a significant shift in public opinion with twice as many
    Americans now supporting permanent Standard Time (48 percent) over
    permanent Daylight Saving Time (24 percent).\2\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \2\ (Evans & Jones, 2025)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sleep Health: A Pillar of Overall Health and Well-being
        Consider how you or your children have felt after a poor night's
    sleep. Maybe you've missed an important meeting, snapped at your
    spouse, drifted out of your lane, skipped the gym, or eaten an extra
    bowl of ice cream. You may have struggled to get an overly tired
    toddler to behave or have drag your teenager out of bed for school.
    Contrast that with how much better you feel and function after a
    restful sleep. Permanent Standard Time would help more Americans
    experience that improvement by providing a more natural alignment
    between our social schedules and the sun's cycle every day of the year.
        There is a growing understanding among doctors, educators, athletes
    and mental health professionals that sleep is critical but often
    underutilized tool for improving overall health. Americans are facing a
    sleep deprivation epidemic, with 60 percent of adults\3\ and 80 percent
    of teens\4\ not getting the recommended amount of sleep. Even small
    improvements in sleep can significantly boost metabolism, mood, immune
    function and performance.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \3\ (NationalSleepFoundation, 2025)
        \4\ (NationalSleepFoundation, 2024)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        High-profile athletes, including Tom Brady, Kirk Cousins, Lebron
    James, Gabby Thomas, Roger Federer and Justin Thomas have capitalized
    on this understanding to improve their performance through sleep
    optimization.\5\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \5\ (Gatto, 2019; Gorman, 2024; Ibach, 2019; Scipioni, 2021;
    Sekaran, 2023)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Clock Time Matters
        Good sleep is not just the number of hours, but also the timing and
    quality. Human beings are diurnal (not nocturnal); our bodies crave
    morning light to wake and evening darkness to sleep. Permanent Standard
    Time improves sleep health by aligning our clocks more naturally with
    the sun. Standard Time naturally places the sun directly overhead at
    noon at the meridian (dotted line) of each time zone. Daylight Saving
    Time shifts the clock time so that the sun is overhead an hour later.
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Every cell in our body has a biological clock that synchronizes
    with a master clock in the brain, aligning our circadian rhythms to a
    24-hour day.\6\ To keep our internal clocks synchronized, most people
    need morning light and evening darkness. However, Daylight Saving Time
    stresses the body and brain by continually exposing us to the opposite
    conditions. Throughout the entire Daylight Saving Time period, our
    social schedules are misaligned with our natural circadian rhythms.
    This makes it harder to sleep and wake, and it strains metabolic and
    neurological functions.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \6\ Picture adapted from (Saini, Brown, & Dibner, 2015) and (Dijk &
    Lockley, 2002)
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The effects of circadian misalignment are familiar to many of us
    during flights across time zones. With conventional jetlag, new timing
    of sunrise at our destination resynchronizes our internal rhythms to
    the local environment within a few days. However, with Daylight Saving
    Time our circadian hormones levels (such as the natural morning release
    of wakefulness-promoting cortisol) remain more aligned to the sun.\7\
    Chronobiologists refer to this condition as ``social jet lag''.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \7\ (Hadlow, Brown, Wardrop, & Henley, 2014)
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        When our alarms ring at 7 a.m. during Daylight Saving Time, our
    bodies still feel like it is 6 a.m. near the time zone meridian. On the
    western edge of the time zone, it feels closer to 5:30 a.m.
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        When Daylight Saving Time is extended into winter's unavoidably
    shorter days, it pushes sunrise in most states past 8 a.m. for three or
    more months, and past 9 a.m in some locations. The long deprivation of
    crucial morning sunlight is why year-round Daylight Saving Time is
    exponentially more harmful than seasonal Daylight Saving Time.
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Adolescents, teens and young adults have the most circadian
    disruption from Daylight Saving Time because their body rhythms already
    run late.\8\ Any parent of a teenager knows you can't just tell a kid
    to go to bed when they aren't tired. This is because before sleep
    onset, teenagers have the strongest drive for alertness (in what sleep
    scientist call the ``forbidden zone'').\9\ With more evening light
    during Daylight Saving Time pushing rhythms even later, most teenagers
    are biologically unable to get enough sleep before their morning alarms
    ring. This results in an increased number of teenagers trying to catch
    up on sleep over weekends,\10\ which is associated with numerous
    adverse health and performance outcomes.\11\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \8\ (Crowley, Acebo, & Carskadon, 2007)
        \9\ (Lavie, 1986)
        \10\ (Borisenkov et al., 2017)
        \11\ (Castro et al., 2021; Foster et al., 2013; Haraszti, Ella,
    Gyongyosi, Roenneberg, & Kaldi, 2014; Levandovski et al., 2011;
    McGowan, Uzoni, Faltraco, Thome, & Coogan, 2020; Panev et al., 2017;
    Parsons et al., 2015; Phillips et al., 2017; Roenneberg, Allebrandt,
    Merrow, & Vetter, 2012)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Harms of the Spring Clock Change to Daylight Saving Time and the
            Greater Risks of Year-round Daylight Saving Time
        The transition from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time in the
    spring is particularly harmful (see table below), but year-round
    Daylight Saving Time is even worse. Our body rhythms never adjust to
    the later sunrises and sunsets of Daylight Saving Time. These are
    associated with many long-term risks, including higher rates of cancer,
    obesity, heart attacks, depression, suicide and fatal car crashes.\12\
    Independent reviews of the literature have resulted in multiple
    position statements by medical and scientific groups in support of
    permanent Standard Time.\13\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \12\ (Borisenkov et al., 2017; Gentry, Evaniuck, Suriyamongkol, &
    Mali, 2022; Gu et al., 2017; D. J. Reis et al., 2023; T. VoPham et al.,
    2018)
        \13\ (Crawford et al., 2024; Malow, 2022; Medicine, 2022;
    Roenneberg et al., 2019)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Health, Safety and Performance Outcomes Worsened by the Spring Clock
            Change\14\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \14\ (Kantermann, Juda, Merrow, & Roenneberg, 2007; Lahti et al.,
    2006) (Kolla, Coombes, Morgenthaler, & Mansukhani, 2021; Medina, Ebben,
    Milrad, Atkinson, & Krieger, 2015) (Barnes & Wagner, 2009; Ellis,
    Luther, & Jenkins, 2018; Holland & Hinze, 2000; Sipila, Ruuskanen,
    Rautava, & Kyto, 2016) (Kountouris, 2020; Manfredini et al., 2019)
    (Chudow et al., 2020) (Cho, Barnes, & Guanara, 2017; Gao, Lage, &
    Scullin, 2024; Kamstra, Kramer, & Levi, 2010) (Heacock et al., 2022)
    (Coate & Markowitz, 2004; Ferguson, 1996; Neumann & von Blanckenburg,
    2025; Teke et al., 2021) (O'Connor & Kancheva, 2022; Yule, Krishna,
    Rahiri, & Hill, 2016)

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sleep disruption                     Medical errors
    Teen sleep deprivation               Missed appointments
    Strokes                              Workplace injuries
    Heart attacks                        Human caused wildfires
    Atrial fibrillation                  Medical malpractice payments
    Autopsies including sudden infant    Harsher judges sentencing
     death
    In-vitro fertilization rate failure  Stock market volatility
    Emergency room visits                Alcohol consumption
    Motor vehicle accidents              Athletic performance
    Suicide                              Athletic injuries
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Can We Quantify the Short-term Impact?

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    795,000 strokes /year  15,000 strokes/week. A 3% increase in stroke the
     week after the time change  450 more strokes/each spring
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        A study by JP Morgan indicates that the spring shift to Daylight
    Saving Time is associated with increased financial costs, including a
    5.9 percent spike in healthcare spending in Los Angeles compared to
    Phoenix in the month after the change. (Arizona stays on Standard
    Time).
    Small Sleep Improvements, Big Impacts
        We know from later school start time policies that small changes in
    sleep health can lead to meaningful benefits to health, mood, safety
    and performance.\15\ Permanent Standard Time would allow these benefits
    without requiring drastic changes. Whereas permanent DST would change
    the recommended school start time from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \15\ (K. Wahlstrom et al., 2014) (Later; McKeever, Dodd, &
    O'Sullivan, 2022) (K. L. Wahlstrom, Berger, & Widome, 2017) (Danner &
    Phillips, 2008; Temkin, Princiotta, Ryberg, & Lewin, 2018)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Daylight Saving Time Impacts Certain Populations More
       Teenagers and other night owls

       People with work or childcare start times before 8:30 a.m.
            (the median work start in the United States is 7:55 a.m.)

       People who live on the western edge of time zones
    Corrections of Common Misconceptions
       Daylight Saving Time does not make days longer

       Summer benefits health and mood due to its longer daylength
            and warmer weather, not due to Daylight Saving Time.

       Studies fail to show permanent Daylight Saving Time
            significantly increases exercise in the United States.\16\ Even
            if some people exercise more, the risk of chronic health
            disorders increases due to sleep and circadian disruption.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \16\ (Goodman, Page, Cooper, & International Children's
    Accelerometry Database, 2014; Zick, 2014)

       While darkness may come with health and safety risks,
            Daylight Saving Time is not the solution, because sleep and
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
            circadian disruption cause even more health and safety risks.

       Permanent Standard Time results in fewer long-term mental
            health disorders, reducing seasonal depression\17\ and
            suicide.\18\ A 2025 study found that artificial delay of
            sunrises and sunsets is associated with a roughly 6 percent
            increase in the incidence of depression.\19\ This is not
            surprising, as morning light and healthy sleep are known
            treatments for mental health disorders.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \17\ (Borisenkov et al., 2017)
        \18\ (D. J. Reis et al., 2023)
        \19\ (Argys, Averett, & Yang, 2025)

       There are no data to support that permanent Daylight Saving
            Time would reduce year-round crime or motor vehicle crashes,
            there are only data to support short-term effects after the
            clock change. Moreover, a recent study spanning eleven years of
            data across the Nation showed that artificial delay of sunrises
            and sunsets is associated with 21.8 percent more fatal
            crashes.\20\ Furthermore, sleep disruption is associated with
            drug and alcohol use, poorer judgment, more risk-taking
            behaviors and greater aggression--all of which are risk factors
            for criminality and for vehicular accidents.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \20\ (Gentry et al., 2022)

       Farmers historically have supported permanent Standard Time.
            Many aspects of farm and ranch work remained aligned to the
            sun, for example, the time dew clears from the fields and the
            circadian rhythms of farm animals. Animals are also impacted by
            clock changes, becoming less active after sunrise after the
            transition to Daylight Saving Time.\21\ Rural areas were
            particularly affected in 1974 when people were made to commute
            to work in the dark and send their kids to school in the dark
            during permanent Daylight Saving Time.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \21\ (Nagendran, Li, Samson, & Schroeder, 2025)

       Night owls often express a preference for Daylight Saving
            Time, believing later sunrise and sunsets align better with
            their natural rhythm. However, their circadian rhythms are more
            sensitive to the delayed light exposure of Daylight Saving
            Time.\22\ When night owls miss morning light or get exposed to
            too much light in the evening, their internal body clocks have
            a greater degree of misalignment with the external environment
            than people with earlier sleep timing preferences, or
            ``chronotypes''. This misalignment is called ``social jet
            lag'', and it is associated with chronic health risks,
            including higher rates of obesity, depression, and
            cardiovascular problems.\23\ Night owls are also more likely to
            experience greater sleep loss after the seasonal clock change
            to Daylight Saving Time.\24\ One of the most effective medical
            treatments for helping night owls to wake on time for work and
            school is high-intensity morning light exposure.\25\ Morning
            light helps reset their circadian rhythms, making it easier to
            wake up earlier and feel more aligned with the typical work
            day. Permanent Standard Time would not only help night owls
            rise without the harshness of an alarm clock, but also support
            healthier sleep cycles, making it easier for them to fall
            asleep earlier. The mental and physical health benefits of
            permanent Standard Time are greater for night owls.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \22\ (C. Reis et al., 2023)
        \23\ (Farkova, Smotek, Bendova, Mankova, & Koprivova, 2021)
    (Fischer & Lombardi, 2022) (Juda, Vetter, & Roenneberg, 2013) (McMahon
    et al., 2019) (Owens, Dearth-Wesley, Herman, & Whitaker, 2019)
    (Merikanto et al., 2013) (Urban, Magyarodi, & Rigo, 2011) (Wong,
    Hasler, Kamarck, Muldoon, & Manuck, 2015)
        \24\ (Putilov, Poluektov, & Dorokhov, 2020)
        \25\ (Narala, Ahsan, Ednick, & Kier, 2024)

       The negative impact of Daylight Saving Time on sleep harms
            the economy. Workers, especially those with early start times
            before 8:30 a.m., are less likely to be productive and
            efficient during periods of circadian misalignment.\26\
            Permanent Standard Time improves academic success with higher
            high school test scores than even seasonal Daylight Saving
            Time.\27\ Additionally, health care bills and work-place
            injuries rise after the transition to Daylight Saving Time and
            utility bills, heating and cooling costs are lower during
            Standard Time.\28\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \26\ (Giuntella & Mazzonna, 2019)
        \27\ (Gaski & Sagarin, 2011)
        \28\ (Barnes & Wagner, 2009; Depalo, 2023; Farrell, Narasiman, &
    Ward Jr., 2016; Kotchen & Grant, 2011)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Historical Context and the Case for Permanent Standard Time
        Prior to 1966, most states enjoyed permanent Standard Time for
    eight decades outside of wartime. It was only after the Uniform Time
    Act was enacted, with its prescribed adherence to seasonal Daylight
    Saving Time, that most states began to observe biannual clock changes.
    Permanent Daylight Saving Time has been tried before, notably during
    World War II and the 1974 Oil Crisis, but it was quickly abandoned due
    to its unpopularity and negative effects. Permitting states to adopt
    permanent Daylight Saving Time could create significant economic and
    logistical issues, especially for industries like transportation and
    broadcasting. Prevention of such problems was why the Uniform Time Act
    of 1966 was enacted.\29\ For example, it has been estimated that
    companies spend $350 million dollars in computer fixes to deal with
    Daylight Saving Time transitions.\30\ Thus, a national or at least
    regional approach, with adequate preparation time and careful choice of
    the most sustainable permanent clock, is preferred.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \29\ (United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and
    Foreign Commerce., 1973)
        \30\ (Lohr, 2007)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        A recent review disproves the claimed energy savings of Daylight
    Saving Time,\31\ including studies showing utility bills increase
    during Daylight Saving Time, due to higher heating and cooling
    costs.\32\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \31\ (Neumann & von Blanckenburg, 2025)
        \32\ (Farrell et al., 2016; Kotchen & Grant, 2011)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Only about 70 countries currently have seasonal Daylight Saving
    Time policies, with most countries following year-round Standard Time.
    Mexico most recently adopted year-round Standard Time in 2022.
    Permanent Standard Time has been shown to be a lasting option, whereas
    permanent Daylight Saving Time in the United States and elsewhere has
    been unsustainable.
    Conclusion
        In summary, while seasonal Daylight Saving Time allows for more
    evening light, it forces unpopular, costly and harmful biannual clock
    changes.
        Permanent Standard Time offers a balanced approach that aligns with
    our natural circadian rhythms, improves health, safety, and
    productivity, and eliminates the harmful and unpopular effects of
    seasonal clock changes. While Daylight Saving Time may seem beneficial
    on the surface, it brings substantial costs to our well-being and
    inefficiencies to our economy. I urge this committee to consider the
    long-term benefits of adopting Permanent Standard Time.
    Additional Information About Seasonal Transition Effects
        Studies of motor vehicle crashes after clock changes have shown
    varying results,\33\ but one study that analyzed data over ten years
    found the spring transition to Daylight Saving Time likely increases
    fatal motor vehicle crashes, with a 6 percent rise in fatalities
    reported. This risk is most significant in the western edges of time
    zones, where circadian disruption is greatest.\34\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \33\ (Coate & Markowitz, 2004; Ferguson, 1996; Goodwin, Gonzalez, &
    Fontenla, 2024; Neumann & von Blanckenburg, 2025; Teke et al., 2021)
        \34\ (Fritz, VoPham, Wright, & Vetter, 2020)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Hansen et al's often-cited study showed an 11 percent increase in
    depression episodes after the fall transition from Daylight Saving Time
    to Standard Time, but the rates then decreased over the next two months
    during Standard Time. This suggests a short-term worsening after the
    change, and a long-term protective effect of Standard Time, despite
    shortening day lengths.\35\ However, other types of studies are needed
    to inform the long-term effects. For example, one study that compared
    permanent Daylight Saving Time to permanent Standard Time found highest
    rates of seasonal depression during permanent Daylight Saving Time.\36\
    Another study found a 6 percent higher incidence of depression with
    later sunrises and sunsets.\37\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \35\ (Hansen, Sonderskov, Hageman, Dinesen, & Ostergaard, 2017)
        \36\ (Borisenkov et al., 2017)
        \37\ (Argys et al., 2025)
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Doleac et al's often-cited study reported a 27 percent drop in
    robberies occurring in the two hours around and after sunset after the
    spring Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time transition.\38\ Their data
    supports an acute effect of light on decreasing robbery rates, but it
    is unlikely crime rates would be lower overall with permanent Daylight
    Saving Time when sleep factors are taken in account. In fact, their
    data shows more crimes were committed during DST period, per their
    table below.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \38\ (Doleac & Sanders, 2015; Munyo, 2018)
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Data Informing the Long-term Impact of Clock Time Choice
    Sleep Effect of 1-hour Earlier Sunset and Sunrise on Working Adults in
            US\39\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \39\ (Giuntella & Mazzonna, 2019)

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Social Factor                  Average Daily Sleep Gain
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Employed Adults                           19 minutes
    Work-start before 7 a.m.                  36 minutes
    Parents of children with school start     27 minutes
     time before 8 a.m.
    Work-start after 8:30 a.m. without        No change
     children
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Social Jet Lag (sleeping in >2 hours later on weekends) is less
    common in adolescents with permanent Standard Time\40\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \40\ (Borisenkov et al., 2017)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Exercise
       No change in average exercise in U.S. adolescents with later
            sunsets\41\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \41\ (Goodman et al., 2014)

       Comparing Arizona to nearby states, Daylight Saving Time
            doesn't increase adult physical activity, but it may change the
            time of day that exercise occurs\42\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \42\ (Zick, 2014)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Health
       Childhood obesity rates decrease with less social jet
            lag\43\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \43\ (Liang et al., 2022)

       Fewer cases of being overweight or obese with 1-hour earlier
            sunrise/sunset\44\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \44\ (Giuntella & Mazzonna, 2019)

       More sun-aligned clock time is associated with lower rates
            of cancer, heart attacks, coronary artery disease and
            diabetes\45\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \45\ (Giuntella & Mazzonna, 2019; Gu et al., 2017; Trang VoPham et
    al., 2018)

       Health care costs are lower with both stopping clock
            transitions and more sun-aligned clock time\46\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \46\ (Co., 2016; Giuntella & Mazzonna, 2019)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Mental Health
       While people can feel mood brighten when going out in the
            sun, the timing of light and quality of sleep are more
            important for long-term mental health

       Morning light-box treatment improves mood;\47\ Standard Time
            naturally provides morning light
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \47\ (Terman, 2007)

       6 percent higher incidence of depression with later sunrise
            and sunset\48\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \48\ (Argys et al., 2025)

       1-2/100,000 more suicides with later sunrise and sunset;\49\
            more aligned clocks could prevent about 5,000 suicides per year
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \49\ (D. J. Reis et al., 2023)

       Sleep and circadian disruption is associated with increased
            substance abuse\50\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \50\ (Hasler et al., 2017; Hasler et al., 2022)

       Winter depression rates are highest during permanent
            Daylight Saving Time and lowest during permanent Standard
            Time\51\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \51\ (Borisenkov et al., 2017)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Real-world Trials Abroad
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Can We Quantify the Difference Between Permanent DST and Permanent ST?

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Given 42.9 million adolescents in the United States and prevalence rate
     of seasonal depression in adolescents of 1.7-5.5%, a 2.2% difference is
     approximately 16,000-52,000 fewer children with seasonal depression
     during permanent Standard Time than during permanent Daylight Saving
     Time.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        Workplace Performance and Safety
       Many studies demonstrate that sleep and circadian disruption
            result in worsened brain function, including worsened
            concentration, attention, reaction time, decision making and
            learning/memory, affecting workplace relationships, performance
            and safety\52\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \52\ (Barnes, 2012; Barnes, Ghumman, & Scott, 2013; Barnes,
    Guarana, Nauman, & Kong, 2016; Barnes, Gunia, & Wagner, 2015; Barnes,
    Lucianetti, Bhave, & Christian, 2015; Diaz-Morales & Escribano, 2015;
    Gish, Wagner, Gregoire, & Barnes, 2019; Guarana & Barnes, 2017; McGowan
    et al., 2020; McGowan, Voinescu, & Coogan, 2016; Panev et al., 2017;
    Scullin, Hebl, Corrington, & Nguyen, 2020; Uehli et al., 2014; Wagner,
    Barnes, Lim, & Ferris, 2012)

       Later sunrises and sunsets are associated with over $600
            million per year in lost productivity due to 4 million lost
            workdays\53\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \53\ (Giuntella & Mazzonna, 2019; Taillard, Sagaspe, Philip, &
    Bioulac, 2021)

       Professions with earlier work start times or shift work
            schedules, including transportation construction, utility,
            manufacturing, education and health services, are impacted most
                                   Education
       Students living on permanent Standard Time had higher test
            scores than those on seasonal Daylight Saving Time\54\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \54\ (Gaski & Sagarin, 2011)

       Academic performance improves when social jet lag is
            lower\55\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \55\ (Haraszti et al., 2014)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Motor Vehicle Crashes
       Despite the protective effect of more light during the
            busier evening commute, driving is less safe during Daylight
            Saving Time, due to sleep and circadian disruption effects

       21.8 percent more fatal motor vehicle crashes occur with
            later sunsets;\56\ more aligned clocks could prevent 1,300 more
            deaths per year
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \56\ (Gentry et al., 2022)

       Driving simulation testing improves throughout Standard Time
            and worsens throughout Daylight Saving Time\57\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \57\ (Orsini, Zarantonello, Costa, Rossi, & Montagnese, 2022)

       Permanent Daylight Saving Time has the most total commute
            time in the dark
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                 Sunrise Times on Permanent Daylight Saving Time
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         First Day with     Last Day with
           City         Sunrise After 8    Sunrise After 8   Latest Sunrise
                               AM                AM
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Anchorage, AK      Sept 28            Mar 20            11:16 AM
    Atlanta, GA        Nov 4              Mar 7             8:44 AM
    Boston, MA         Dec 6              Jan 31            8:14 AM
    Charleston, WV     Nov 7              Feb 28            8:45 AM
    Chattanooga, TN    Oct 29             Mar 10            8:51 AM
    Cheyenne, WY       Nov 25             Feb 11            8:26 AM
    Chicago, IL        Dec 1              Feb 4             8:19 AM
    Cleveland, OH      Nov 1              Mar 2             8:54 AM
    Denver, CO         Nov 28             Feb 9             8:22 AM
    Detroit, MI        Oct 27             Mar 6             9:02 AM
    Helena, MT         Oct 24             Mar 5             9:13 AM
    Honolulu, HI       every day of the                     8:12 AM
                        year
    Indianapolis, IN   Oct 19             Mar 13            9:07 AM
    Jackson, MS        Dec 23             Jan 23            8:03 AM
    Kansas City, KS    Nov 12             Feb 23            8:39 AM
    Madison, WI        Nov 22             Feb 12            8:30 AM
    Minneapolis, MN    Nov 6              Feb 24            8:52 AM
    Pierre, SD         Oct 17             Mar 12            9:18 AM
    Raleigh, NC        Nov 23             Feb 17            8:26 AM
    Reno, NV           Nov 29             Feb 8             8:21 AM
    Salt Lake City,    Nov 2              Mar 2             8:53 AM
     UT
    San Antonio, TX    Nov 16             Mar 2             8:30 AM
    San Francisco, CA  Nov 24             Feb 15            8:26 AM
    Santa Fe, NM       Dec 5              Feb 6             8:15 AM
    Seattle, WA        Nov 5              Feb 24            8:58 AM
    St. Louis, MO      Nov 30             Feb 8             8:20 AM
    Tallahassee, FL    Nov 11             Mar 5             8:36 AM
    Trenton, NJ        Nov 27             Feb 9             8:22 AM
    Wilmington, DE     Nov 26             Feb 11            8:24 AM
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    0300

        The Chairman. Thank you very much.
        Dr. Harkey.

               STATEMENT OF DR. DAVID HARKEY, PRESIDENT,
                 INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY

        Dr. Harkey. Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Blunt Rochester,
    and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
    share the IIHS research on the road safety implications of
    Daylight Saving Time.
        When discussing any topic on road safety in the United
    States it is important to set the stage. Simply put, we are in
    a road safety emergency. Crash deaths have risen nearly 30
    percent since 2014, from below 33,000 to more than 42,000 in
    2022. Pedestrian crashes in particular have reached crisis
    levels, climbing more than 80 percent from their low point in
    2009.
        Changing the clocks twice a year is relevant to road safety
    first and foremost because it affects the amount of ambient
    light during peak times for travel. We know that darkness is
    associated with increased risk of fatal crashes. We do about a
    quarter of our travel at night, but nearly half of motor
    vehicle occupant deaths and three-quarters of pedestrian deaths
    occur in the dark.
        Obviously, adjusting the clock cannot increase the number
    of daylight hours but can only shift how they align with work
    and school schedules.
        Since people travel at all times of day, and the risk
    created by darkness varies by road user type, the effects of
    these time changes on crashes are complex. The aim of our
    recent study was to examine the effect of changes in light
    conditions associated with the beginning and end of Daylight
    Saving Time. We examined 10 years of fatality data for the 5-
    weeks before and after each time change and only considered
    crashes between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m., and between 3 p.m. and 9
    p.m. Ambient light conditions were calculated using the sunrise
    and sunset times corresponding to the geographic coordinates of
    each crash.
        Crashes resulting in vehicle occupant deaths fell 7 percent
    in the 5-weeks after the time change in the fall and increased
    12 percent in the 5-weeks after the time change in the spring.
    The opposite was true for crashes resulting in pedestrian or
    bicyclist deaths. Those crashes rose 13 percent in the fall,
    and declined 24 percent in the spring. The net effect was 26
    fewer morning and evening crashes with pedestrian or bicyclist
    fatalities per year, and 29 additional morning and evening
    crashes with vehicle occupant fatalities.
        It is important to emphasize that our study does not point
    to a preference for Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time based
    on road safety alone. The clearest take away from this research
    is that there is a strong relationship between increased
    darkness and fatal crashes, particularly for pedestrians and
    bicyclists. This is consistent with previous studies, including
    our own work from 30 years ago examining the effects of
    Daylight Saving Time.
        While the clock may not hold the answer to our road safety
    crisis, there are known solutions for protecting pedestrians in
    dark and low-light conditions, and for reducing the crash toll
    overall. We should commit to infrastructure and vehicle
    improvements that have been shown to increase safety for
    pedestrians and bicyclists on different types of roadways in
    urban, suburban, and rural environments.
        This includes engineering treatments to improve motor
    shielding behavior, and vehicle technologies such as better
    headlights and automatic emergency braking.
        Efforts are also needed to address speed on our roadways.
    The speed effect on crash severity is more pronounced for
    pedestrians and bicyclists who do not have the benefit of the
    vehicle structure to protect them. Speed limit policy,
    enforcement, engineering, and vehicle technology all have a
    role to play in slowing down drivers. Such a multipronged
    strategy to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety at night
    exemplifies the safe system approach, which the U.S. DOT has
    adopted as the guiding paradigm of the National Roadway Safety
    Strategy. But implementation has simply been too slow.
        We are alarmed by the rising toll of crashes on our
    Nation's roads and dismayed by the lack of urgency to fix the
    problem. For this reason, we recently launched an initiative we
    are calling 30x30, a goal to reduce U.S. fatalities 30 percent
    by 2030. Achieving this reduction will require concerted effort
    by all stakeholders. We will increase our efforts to address
    risky behaviors, seek opportunities to improve safety for
    everyone inside and outside the vehicle, and explore ways to
    make commercial vehicle fleets safer.
        We ask everybody who cares about the needless loss of life
    on our roadways, including this committee, to think about what
    they can contribute to achieving the 30x30 goal.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Harkey follows:]

                Prepared Statement of David Harkey, President,
                 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
        Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and Members of the
    Committee--thank you for the opportunity to share my organization's
    research on the road safety implications of daylight saving time.
        The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is an
    independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization
    dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage from motor
    vehicle crashes through research and evaluation and through education
    of consumers, policymakers, and safety professionals. Our work is
    wholly supported by U.S. and Canadian auto insurers.
        When discussing any topic on road safety in the United States, it
    is important to set the stage. Simply put, we are in the middle of a
    road safety emergency. Crash deaths have risen nearly 30 percent since
    2014, from below 33,000 to more than 42,000 in 2022. Pedestrian deaths,
    in particular, have reached crisis levels, climbing 83 percent from
    their low point in 2009.
        Changing the clocks twice a year is relevant to road safety first
    and foremost because it affects the amount of ambient light during peak
    times for travel. We know that darkness is associated with increased
    risk of fatal crashes. According to data from the National Highway
    Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration,
    less than a quarter of trips begin during nighttime hours, but nearly
    half of motor vehicle occupant deaths and 77 percent of pedestrian
    deaths occur in the dark. Obviously, adjusting the clock cannot
    increase the number of daylight hours, but can only shift how they
    align with work and school schedules. Since people travel at all times
    of day and the risk created by darkness varies by road user type, the
    effects of these time changes on crashes are complex.
        IIHS sought to tease out some of this complexity in a recent
    study.\1\ When we looked at morning and evening crash patterns in the
    weeks surrounding the time changes, we found that the current policy
    results in a net annual decrease of 26 crashes with pedestrian or
    bicyclist fatalities per year but a net annual increase of 29 crashes
    with vehicle occupant fatalities. Safety improves for pedestrians after
    ``springing ahead,'' while vehicle occupants fare better after
    ``falling back.'' Further investigation showed that the fluctuation in
    pedestrian crash deaths is clearly tied to the amount of ambient light,
    but there is no clear connection for vehicle occupant fatalities.
        If you are looking for concrete guidance on whether to keep the
    current twice-yearly time changes, to make daylight saving time
    permanent, or to abolish it completely, you may find this study
    unsatisfying, as the evidence does not point definitively one way or
    another. What our study does reinforce is that pedestrians and
    bicyclists are at greater risk in low light and dark conditions. Thus,
    whatever you decide to do about the clock, I hope you will also
    consider actions to keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe, especially
    after sundown.
    IIHS study of daylight saving time
        The aim of our recent study was to examine the effect of changes in
    light conditions associated with the beginning and end of daylight
    saving time, rather than the short-term sleep disruption associated
    with changing the clock. IIHS researchers looked at data from the U.S.
    Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System for
    the 5 weeks before and after each time change from 2010 through 2019.
    Only crashes between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. and between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.
    were considered. Ambient light conditions were calculated using the
    sunrise and sunset times corresponding to the geographic coordinates of
    each crash.
        Crashes resulting in vehicle occupant deaths fell 7 percent in the
    5 weeks after the time change in the fall and increased 12 percent in
    the 5 weeks after the time change in the spring. The opposite was true
    for crashes resulting in pedestrian or bicyclist deaths. Those crashes
    rose 13 percent in the fall and declined 24 percent in the spring.
        As mentioned, the net effect was 26 fewer morning and evening
    crashes with pedestrian or bicyclist fatalities per year and 29
    additional morning and evening crashes with vehicle occupant
    fatalities.
        When we looked at the time of day when the crashes occurred and the
    associated light conditions, we found that all of the decrease in
    pedestrian fatalities could be attributed to an increase in the amount
    of light, while only two of the additional crashes resulting in vehicle
    occupant deaths were due to less light.
        It's unclear why the effect of the time change on vehicle occupant
    fatalities was opposite of the effect on pedestrians. The results
    suggest that unlike the effect on pedestrians, the vehicle occupant
    effect was largely unrelated to light conditions. It's possible that
    factors including driver drowsiness or behavioral changes in response
    to the time changes played a role, but our study did not examine those
    things.
        It is important to emphasize that our study does not point to a
    preference for standard time or daylight saving time based on road
    safety alone. In addition to the diverging results for different road
    user groups, we should keep in mind that an extra hour of light on one
    end of the workday is counterbalanced by an extra hour of darkness on
    the other end.
        The clearest takeaway from this research is that there is a strong
    relationship between increased darkness and fatal crashes, particularly
    for pedestrians and bicyclists. This is consistent with previous
    studies, including our own work from 30 years ago examining the effects
    of daylight saving time.\2\
    Improving safety after dark
        While the clock may not hold the answer to our road safety crisis,
    there are known solutions for protecting pedestrians after dark and for
    reducing the crash toll overall.
        First of all, we should commit to infrastructure and vehicle
    improvements that have been shown to improve safety for pedestrians and
    bicyclists on different types of roadways in urban, suburban, and rural
    areas. Our research has shown that crosswalk lighting, rectangular
    rapid flashing beacons, and pedestrian hybrid beacons all make drivers
    more likely to yield to pedestrians.\3\,\4\ Improved
    headlights are also key, allowing drivers to detect pedestrians further
    down the roadway. Vehicles with good marks for visibility in IIHS
    headlight evaluations have 23 percent fewer nighttime pedestrian
    crashes than vehicles with poor-visibility headlights.\5\
        Our work on passenger-vehicle automatic emergency braking that can
    detect and respond to pedestrians shows that this technology cuts
    pedestrian crash rates 27 percent.\6\ In the last few years, automakers
    have been improving the performance of these systems at night in
    response to IIHS tests. Making these systems work better at night is
    key to addressing the three-quarters of pedestrian fatalities that
    occur in dark and low-light conditions.
        Efforts are also needed to address speed on our roadways. Higher
    vehicle speeds make crashes of all types more likely and more deadly.
    The speed effect on crash severity is more pronounced for pedestrians
    and bicyclists, who don't have a vehicle's structure to protect them.
    In one study of U.S. pedestrian crashes, the average risk of severe
    injury to a pedestrian increased from 10 percent at an impact speed of
    17 mph to 25 percent at 25 mph, 50 percent at 33 mph, 75 percent at 41
    mph, and 90 percent at 48 mph.\7\
        Reducing speed limits, especially in areas with high pedestrian
    traffic, is an obvious solution. Enforcement must also play a role, and
    traditional methods can be supplemented by the wider use of speed
    safety cameras. Engineering measures such as curb bulb-outs, multiway
    stop signs, left-turn hardening devices, and roundabouts could be more
    widely deployed to slow vehicles at intersections. Broader adoption of
    intelligent speed assistance in vehicles could change drivers' behavior
    and even their mindset.\8\
    Addressing the larger road safety crisis
        Such a multipronged strategy to improve pedestrian and bicyclist
    safety at night exemplifies the Safe System approach, which the U.S.
    Department of Transportation has adopted as the ``guiding paradigm'' of
    the National Roadway Safety Strategy.\9\ While the Department should be
    commended for committing to this principle, little progress has been
    made to translate it into action and reverse the Nation's fatality
    trend.
        We at IIHS are alarmed by the rising toll of crashes on our
    Nation's roads and dismayed by an apparent lack of urgency to fix the
    problem. For this reason, we recently launched an initiative we are
    calling 30x30--a goal to reduce U.S. fatalities 30 percent by 2030.\10\
    Achieving this reduction will require a concerted effort by all
    stakeholders. For our part, IIHS has laid out a series of concrete
    research, testing, and education actions that we are undertaking as
    part of our 5-year strategic plan. We will increase our efforts to
    address risky behaviors, seek opportunities to improve safety for
    everyone inside and outside the vehicle, and explore ways to make the
    country's heavy and light commercial vehicle fleets safer. We ask
    everybody who cares about the needless loss of life on our roads--
    including this Committee--to think about what they can contribute to
    achieving the 30x30 goal.
    References
        1. Woods, A. N., Weast, R. A., & Monfort, S. S. (2025). Daylight
    saving time and fatal crashes: The impact of changing light conditions.
    Journal of Safety Research, 93, 200-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/
    j.jsr.2025.02.010
        2. Ferguson, S. A., Preusser, D. F., Lund, A. K., Zador, P. L., &
    Ulmer, R. G. (1995). Daylight saving time and motor vehicle crashes:
    The reduction in pedestrian and vehicle occupant fatalities. American
    Journal of Public Health, 85(1), 92-95. https://doi.org/10.2105/
    ajph.85.1.92
        3. Hu, W., Van Houten, R., Cicchino, J. B., Engle, J., & Al
    Shomaly, L. (2025). Effects of crosswalk illuminators and rectangular
    rapid flashing beacons on speed reductions and yielding to pedestrians
    at night. Transportation Research Record. https://doi.org/10.1177/
    03611981241310131
        4. Avelar, R. E. & Cicchino, J. B. (2024). Factors influencing road
    user behaviors and motivations around pedestrian hybrid beacons and
    rectangular rapid flashing beacons in North Carolina. Insurance
    Institute for Highway Safety. https://www.iihs.org/topics/bibliography/
    ref/2324
        5. Brumbelow, M. L. (2022). Light where it matters: IIHS headlight
    ratings are correlated with nighttime crash rates. Journal of Safety
    Research, 83, 379-387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2022.09.013
        6. Cicchino, J. B. (2022). Effects of automatic emergency braking
    systems on pedestrian crash risk.
        Accident Analysis & Prevention, 172, Article 106686. https://
    doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2022.106686
        7. Tefft, B. C. (2013). Impact speed and a pedestrian's risk of
    severe injury or death. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 50, 871-878.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2012.07.022
        8. Reagan, I. (2024, August 13). With the right mindset, speed-
    limiting technology can be liberating. Insurance Institute for Highway
    Safety. https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/with-the-right-mindset-speed-
    limiting-technology-can-be-liberating
        9. U.S. Department of Transportation. (2025, January 14). What is a
    Safe System Approach? https://www.transportation.gov/safe-system-
    approach
        10. Harkey, D. (2025, February 20). As Vision Zero hopes fade, a 5-
    year goal can help us reset. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
    https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/as-vision-zero-hopes-fade-a-5-year-
    goal-can-help-us-reset

                    STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN CURTIS,
                         U.S. SENATOR FROM UTAH

        Senator Curtis [presiding]. Thank you. You will notice the
    freshmen have taken over this committee.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Curtis. And we have an agenda, don't we? Yes.
        Listen, I am pleased to be here. John Curtis from Utah, and
    thank you, panel, for this important topic, and I think it is
    fair to say that my constituents share the same frustration
    that has been articulated here by the back and forth.
        Mr. Yates, you mentioned in your testimony that the only
    reason we still have this time change every 6 months is due to
    the Federal Government's inability to decide between Standard
    or Daylight Savings Time, which one is best. Based on your
    research and your outreach, do you have any indication how many
    states would opt out and maintain permanent Standard Time if
    your proposal for permanent Daylight Savings Time were enacted?
        Mr. Yates. Thank you, Senator, for the question. I do not
    have a specific answer. I can talk to you about some of the
    conversations that I have had with state legislators,
    including, I do not know if you know Dr. Raymond Ward in Utah.
        Senator Curtis. Yes. Sure.
        Mr. Yates. He was the sponsor of the bill there, and he
    thought--and he said, all of his constituents told him that the
    state preferred--that everybody preferred to stay in permanent
    Daylight Time in Utah. Utah might be a case where Standard Time
    might be a good option, and that is why I think the 2-year
    implementation would actually be a great chance for everybody
    in Utah to look at what the sun----
        Senator Curtis. Well, let me jump. Let us talk about Utah.
        Mr. Yates. Sure.
        Senator Curtis. You are correct. They have actually passed
    legislation to stay on permanent Daylight Savings Time. And I
    guess my question is, why should not states have the right to
    make this decision? Don't they know best about what they want
    for their constituents? And you know, why are not we giving
    more accommodation to states, and particularly Utah who has
    spoken so vocally about what they would like?
        Mr. Yates. I am sorry, Senator, are you asking is there a
    way that the states could opt out of?
        Senator Curtis. So my point is----
        Mr. Yates. Yes.
        Senator Curtis.--states know what is best for them.
        Mr. Yates. Right?
        Senator Curtis. Some states, like Utah, clearly have a
    preference, and some would go the other way.
        Mr. Yates. Yes.
        Senator Curtis. And I guess my question is, now let me tie
    that into the next question, is we could see a patchwork, which
    I suspect might be the answer to that. Now, Utah, by the way,
    we abut Arizona, and so my whole life we have watched Arizona
    mock us, right, as we all change our times, and somehow we have
    navigated that just fine, right, without any problem. And then
    I would also bring up, the technology is in a very different
    place than it was years ago and our ability to adapt to this.
        So do you worry about a patchwork, or are we OK with that?
        Mr. Yates. Thank you for the question, Senator. I think
    that less complexity in the system is better. It is natural to
    think that there would be a patchwork if we allowed more states
    to opt into permanent Standard Time, but we have a patchwork
    now. What we would be creating is less of a patchwork because
    the lines might change a little bit.
        For instance, Indiana, for instance, may decide that it is
    better for the whole state of Indiana to be in Central Time
    with Chicago, which it abuts and which is a thousand miles from
    Boston. And so it would not create a patchwork, it would just
    create a change in where the line is.
        And so the first and most important thing is decreasing and
    eliminating the clock changing, which decreases complexity. And
    then once we have got that stability, it will not be a
    patchwork. It will just be we know what time it is in Indiana,
    because of all this.
        Senator Curtis. Just the way we have accommodated it too,
    with Arizona.
        Mr. Yates. Exactly.
        Senator Curtis. Right. And if we are honest we, like your
    point, we already have these lines, and they do just fine with
    that.
        Mr. Yates. Yes.
        Senator Curtis. And so, just for the record, I am a strong
    advocate to let my state do what they prefer to do. And feel
    like they know how to make those decisions best.
        I am going to use just a little bit of time for actually a
    very interesting personal question, Dr. Johnson. Given all the
    effects that we have heard about, what is the likelihood that
    if somebody had a profession where they were moving across the
    country twice a week and changing time zones, an hour, or 2
    hours, or sometimes 3 hours, that they would be subject to
    those same problems?
        Dr. Johnson. So you know, a lot of us can relate to jet
    lag. One thing that happens with jet lag is you are moving to a
    new time where the sun is in the sky. And so we adjust to that
    within a day or two, we get to the new time zone depending on
    how far we are going. What happens with going to permanent
    Daylight Savings Time is we are changing the clock time, but we
    are not changing the sun. That is why there is this perpetual
    misalignment that has more stresses and harms to our body over
    the long run.
        So very frequent time travel with a lot of adjust is a big
    strain on the body; but for most people that do not do it all
    the time, we do adjust within days, and we can get, you know,
    that better health and more misalignment--or more alignment of
    our rhythms within days.
        Senator Curtis. Unless, within days, you are going back to
    the previous time zone?
        Dr. Johnson. That is why they are really frequent, not
    good.
        Senator Curtis. All right. I think I have made my point. I
    will yield to the Ranking Member.
        Senator Blunt Rochester. Thank you to my fellow freshman
    and classmate, Senator Curtis. And also thank you to Senator
    Cantwell for the opportunity to be Ranking Member today. And I
    also want to thank the witnesses.
        You know, this is one of the issues that a lot of times we
    will get messages from our constituents. People have strong
    opinions. And I was literally in a meeting before this with a
    CEO of a company who asked: Well, what do you think? And so
    this is something that does touch on so many.
        And I want to start my questions with you, Dr. Harkey,
    because year-round Daylight Saving Time would mean later
    sunrises in the mornings, more people may be commuting to work
    or into school in the dark. Some people have raised concerns
    that this would put their children at greater risk of being hit
    by cars while walking to school. Pedestrians are more likely to
    be killed in traffic accidents, as you stated, in the dark,
    because it is harder for the drivers to see them.
        And in the 1970s, it was widely reported that mothers
    raised significant concerns about their children walking to
    school in the dark in the winter. Nationwide, over 70 percent
    of fatal accidents involving pedestrians occur at night. Dr.
    Harkey, no matter what time the sun goes down, what roadway
    improvements can cities and states make to reduce pedestrian
    fatalities?
        Dr. Harkey. Thank you for the question, Senator. That is
    exactly what our study indicated is that it is not about the
    shifting of the time. We are going to have darkness regardless
    of which decision you make, which policy decision you make. And
    so that is what we are looking for, is to try and figure out
    how do we make pedestrians and bicyclists, in particular, safer
    in those dark hours, whether they are in the morning or whether
    they are in the evening.
        And for most municipalities and county agencies and state
    DOTs who are struggling to address this issue, there is two key
    things: One is space, we have to provide the appropriate space,
    sidewalks. In rural areas, that can be separated paths, or
    possibly paved shoulders, even places for people to walk where
    they are not in the edge of the travel lane.
        We also have to take care to provide careful crossings. So
    we have to pay particular attention to how we are allowing
    motor vehicles and pedestrians to interact at crosswalks. These
    can be at intersections. They can be at midblock locations. So
    you have to have appropriate crossings. Pedestrians are not
    going to walk too far. They are going to make those decisions
    to cross in the middle of the road sometimes, and so you want
    to make sure that you are providing adequate crossings where
    they want to cross.
        And then you have got to do all you can to provide the
    kinds of traffic control devices that will increase motorist
    yielding behavior. So this includes things like rapid flash
    beacons, which have been shown to increase motorist yielding
    behavior six-fold. You can build on that. Adding simple things
    like lights that are triggered when a pedestrian hits the
    crosswalk area. It will light up that crosswalk. You can double
    the amount of motorist yielding behavior.
        So these are interventions that have been proven over time,
    and it is important for state agencies and local agencies to
    take advantage of those kinds of interventions and get those
    implemented anywhere that they have pedestrians.
        Senator Blunt Rochester. Following along on the safety
    theme, what vehicle technologies can help protect pedestrians
    when it is difficult for drivers to see them?
        Dr. Harkey. Yes. And so this is another important aspect,
    and this is what builds on the safe system approach, right,
    building that redundancy into the systems. You do not just rely
    on the infrastructure; you also build technology into vehicles
    that can help with this.
        Two big things that we have studied, one is better
    headlights. We are the only group in the world that test
    headlights the way that we do on our track, and so we have seen
    improvements in headlights over the years that increase
    visibility and provide drivers with additional time. They can
    see that pedestrian further down the roadway. And so that is a
    big change, and we will continue to push for that.
        The other is automatic emergency braking with pedestrian
    detection, that also has been shown to work and be very
    effective at reducing pedestrian crashes in the daytime, and
    now our testing is really focused on getting automakers to
    improve those systems to work even better at nighttime, so that
    is an example of two technologies in the vehicle that can be
    really, really beneficial.
        Senator Blunt Rochester. You know, one of the things that I
    have noticed is that our safety efforts are siloed. You have
    the Federal Highway Administration, which builds and maintains
    highways, you have the National Highway Traffic Safety
    Administration, which regulates vehicle safety standards and
    investigates defects, then you have got the Federal Motor
    Carrier Safety Administration, which oversees commercial motor
    vehicles and trucking industry safety all kind of working
    separately.
        And I think back to what you were talking about, about kind
    of--how can we better layer safety measures to help stop deadly
    crashes?
        Dr. Harkey. Yes. You are absolutely right. And so build on
    top the separation and the Federal agencies that you just
    discussed, along with them, you have state DOTs, you have
    county DOTs, you have city DOTs, and so it becomes quite the
    web of how you make decisions when it comes to road safety.
        One of the things that we have to do a better job of is
    communicating between those agencies, deliberately. And so
    there is no single authority of the ones that you mentioned
    that has complete authority over every decision on our roadway
    system when it comes to safety. And so these agencies have to
    do a better job of communicating together deliberately, and not
    just at the executive level, but at the staff level, because it
    is at the staff level where people know what interventions work
    best and how to apply those in a way that you create that
    redundancy in the system that we were talking about.
        So whether it is infrastructure, whether it is vehicle,
    whether it is changing behaviors, that communication amongst
    the staff is absolutely critical.
        Senator Blunt Rochester. Great. Thank you. And I was really
    interested to hear about your 30x30. So in the interest of
    time, I will yield back to the Chairman.
        The Chairman. Thank you very much, and I want to thank each
    of the witnesses for being here on what is a very interesting
    topic, and important topic, and complex topic. There are very
    real and complicated issues and countervailing arguments on
    both sides. I think there is widespread agreement on locking
    the clock, but where to lock it, the reason we are holding
    these hearings is because these are real arguments, and they
    have real impacts on people.
        Let me start on the health side. Dr. Johnson, can you
    expand on the impact sleep deprivation has on our overall
    health, on our minds, our moods, and especially on young
    children, for whom we know sleep is so vital?
        Dr. Johnson. Thank you for asking about that. Yes, sleep
    comes--you know, has different aspects. So one is just how much
    we sleep, but it is the quality of sleep, and then the timing
    of sleep, so any disturbance in that can affect how we do. So
    we know that kids, even if over a whole week they get enough
    sleep, if they do not get enough during the week and catch up
    on the weekend, they still do not do as well.
        And so sleep and our circadian rhythms, they really
    regulate every aspect of our body, our metabolism. They affect
    how we think about things, they affect our choices of food. You
    are more likely to grab a celery stick when you have got enough
    sleep, but grab that bagel or that candy bar when you are
    sleep-deprived.
        Athletic performance, we know, is better when people do
    sleep, academic success in school. And then mental health has
    some of the most, deep connections to sleep health. And that is
    why even though people, you know, feel better when they see
    light, it is that timing of light and our circadian rhythms
    that is so deeply intertwined that if we can improve sleep, if
    we can improve those rhythms, we see those lower rates of
    depression overall. We see lower rates of suicide.
        And that is what the data, there was just a new study that
    came out just last week showing 6 percent higher rates of
    depression when the sunrises are set later, when we lose that
    critical morning light. And this gets exponentially worse in
    the winter when you lose the--you know, the light in the
    morning.
        So Texas and the southern states actually lose that morning
    light for a longer period because of the curve of the Earth the
    more even days. You get three to 4 months with it being dark
    after 8 a.m., and some of the darkest places in the country are
    actually in western Texas if we were to go to permanent
    Daylight Savings Time.
        And that is why in 1974, a lot of the push to end our
    experiment with Daylight Savings Time was actually pushed by
    states like Florida, and Texas, and the southern states.
        The Chairman. Can you also explain why consistent sleep
    patterns are important for teen brain development and mental
    health?
        Dr. Johnson. Yes. So again, this goes back to our circadian
    rhythms, and so better--so when our circadian rhythms are
    working well, they help us anticipate our day. And so what I
    mean by that is we have certain times when our body wants to go
    to sleep, and so teenagers, their natural rhythm is later. If
    any of you have been around a teenager, you cannot just say: Go
    to bed, you know, they are like: I am wide awake.
        We have this, what we call, a forbidden zone, their
    alertness just is skyrocketing in that time before bed. And so
    they cannot get to sleep on time. But if our social schedule is
    set an hour earlier, which is what Daylight Savings Time does,
    they do not have that opportunity to get the amount of sleep
    they need. And they tend to switch back and forth on weekends,
    and that switching affects us.
        And so that then affects how our brain functions. We know
    more and more about sleep being important for clearing toxins
    from our brain, which sets us up for things like dementia,
    Parkinson's disease. I just came back from the neuro conference
    with data pointing to, you know, the connections there. Our
    metabolism gets off, so we are more likely to gain weight.
    Again, even if people do exercise more, we see, like, 10
    percent higher rates of obesity in places where the sun sets
    later.
        So sleep is so critically important for our metabolic
    health, our overall health, our mental health, how our brain
    functions, which affects the safety issues. You know, the
    highway study, it found a higher risk of vehicle crashes even
    though it was light later, the effect of sleep is more powerful
    than almost anything else, and by aligning the sun we can
    really help that.
        The Chairman. So let us talk a little bit about the idea of
    states' rights. And I have heard from groups on both sides of
    this issue that want either permanent Standard Time or
    permanent Daylight Savings Time. Almost everyone agrees that
    changing the clock twice a year does not make sense.
        Mr. Yates, in your opening statement, you said that setting
    the clock is fundamentally a states' rights issue. Why do you
    think that decision should be left to the states?
        Mr. Yates. Thank you for the question, Senator. The main
    reason is geography, right. Like, we live on this big round
    ball, and the sun is moving, and the difference in where each
    state is makes a big difference in how the sunrise and sunset
    time applies. And so to say that there is one solution that is
    exactly right for, you know, Texas, and the exact same solution
    is right for Atlanta, for Georgia is, what I would posit,
    overreach by the Federal Government.
        And I might even go back to the example that is often cited
    about when the time change happened in the 1970s, and just to
    give a little context to why that was so--why that was such a
    failure, it is often cited that people did not like it because
    there were children that were put at risk in the dark waiting
    for school. It turns out, a lot of that is apocryphal, as we
    have heard, pedestrians are much safer with more light later in
    the day.
        But the thing that is interesting about that time change
    was, and this shows you how different politics was back in
    those days, that law was signed into law on December 15, 1973,
    right in the middle of Watergate. You could say that maybe it
    was a distraction from other things that were going on, but it
    was enacted on December 15th, on a Saturday.
        It was enacted--it took place on January 6, 1974, about
    three weeks later. So you can imagine, the worst Monday of the
    year already is the one after the holiday break, where you have
    to go back to school and everything, to have an extra hour of
    sleep robbed away right before that, you can understand why it
    was so unpopular and why it was repealed two months after Nixon
    resigned office.
        So it clearly does not work for the Federal Government to
    come and say this is a mandate of exactly what we should do for
    all of the country all at the same time. But it is the place of
    the Commerce Committee to say we need a well-regulated time
    system.
        And so it makes sense to get rid of the clock changing, and
    if we give 2 years to the states to be able to say, so that all
    of these arguments can be hashed out, and they are all valid
    arguments, but they can be hashed out in the geography of the
    place where it would actually apply. And they would have time
    to plan and figure out what is the appropriate time for school
    to start, to take in this evidence from neurologists, and what
    is the best time for all of the businesses to operate.
        The Chairman. So maybe if we had more daylight, the
    Watergate break-in does not happen, and history would be
    different.
        Dr. Johnson, you seem to disagree with having states decide
    on how they should lock the clock. In your judgment, why do you
    think that would be the wrong approach?
        Dr. Johnson. So time is a measure. So Congress has the
    control over setting measures. I think of my husband, he likes
    to make a joke: He is 6'6'' in the morning and 6'5'' in the
    afternoon. We do not change the length of a foot on his diurnal
    pattern of his height. Time is supposed to say, you know, how
    the sun is moving through the sky.
        And so if we set it to a Standard Time of the sun being
    closer to overhead at noon, now that is something we can go by,
    but states then can decide how they want to set their social
    schedules. So instead of sort of tricking people into, you
    know: You all have to get up early no matter what; let us have
    each state decide when they want their schools to start, when
    businesses want to start, but let us fix a measure of time that
    actually has a meaning, where the sun is overhead, and then
    adjust, you know, the social schedule around it. And that is
    definitely something the states should decide on.
        The Chairman. Thank you. Senator Lujan.

                   STATEMENT OF HON. BEN RAY LUJAN,
                      U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO

        Senator Lujan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for
    being here today.
        Dr. Johnson, thank you for joining us today. I saw that the
    American Academy of Neurology sent the Committee a letter
    encouraging us to consider that Standard Time, not Daylight
    Savings Time, is the best to align with our body's natural
    clocks. Many people still sleep through the morning light or
    after the early sunrises. Does that mean that light is being
    wasted if they are not using it awake?
        Dr. Johnson. So light helps us get up. You know, most
    people will wake up naturally after light. Now, some people, my
    teenagers, could easily sleep until noon, and that makes them
    actually more likely to shift their schedules even later. So
    when you miss morning light, which is needed to reset your
    rhythm, or if you get too much light in the evenings, you drift
    later and have even more trouble getting up in the morning.
        And so that is why, if we actually set it so the sun is
    rising earlier in the morning, more people will actually,
    naturally, because their circadian rhythms start saying, ``get
    up on time'' rather than ``get up so late'', will be able to be
    ready for the day, be able to have their circadian rhythms help
    their health, help their metabolism which is good--going to be
    good for heart disease, stroke risk, dementia risk, all these
    other sort of chronic health problems.
        Senator Lujan. I appreciate that. To all the panelists,
    what does this mean for New Mexico, for our farmers, school
    children and teenagers, the elderly, workers, and tourism, and
    recreation? What would permanent daylight Standard Time or
    permanent Standard Time mean for these communities? One or the
    other, I apologize, not an ``or''? Mr. Yates?
        Mr. Yates. Senator, thank you for the question. New Mexico
    is another real leader in early movements to try to lock the
    clock. Senator Cliff Pirtle--State Senator Cliff Pirtle worked
    on this. I worked with him closely for a long time. The effects
    on everybody in New Mexico of the clock changing is the same,
    which is, it is very disruptive, it is not disruptive equally
    for everybody, but for a lot of people, it is. A lot of--you
    know, all the things that we have cited, all the different
    health studies show that.
        The thing that I have been advocating today about the two-
    year implementation period would be especially helpful for New
    Mexico because you have a tricky little trade region where you
    abut West Texas, which is in the Mountain Time Zone, and part
    of Mexico. And so there is a region where interstate commerce
    is directly affected.
        And so all of Mexico recently decided to lock the clock,
    except for the part that is attached to West Texas and New
    Mexico, and so these issues of commerce are complicated and do
    take a little while to work out. So that is the one thing I
    would say, is that that sort of thing should be addressed
    carefully.
        Senator Lujan. Mr. Karen.
        Mr. Karen. I would say that the golf courses in New Mexico,
    which enjoy mostly afternoon and evening light, all the great
    hiking that goes on in New Mexico, the rock climbing, the hot
    air ballooning, all of that would be seriously curbed if
    Daylight Saving Time was removed. And that would be, I think, a
    detriment to the New Mexico economy and people's time and
    ability to get outside and enjoy what you have.
        Senator Lujan. You are suggesting that people hike and golf
    in the morning?
        Mr. Karen. No, they do all that in the afternoon. And if
    Standard Time was made permanent, they would feel forced to do
    it in the morning. But they have to go to school. They have to
    go to work. And I do not think they would be able to make that
    shift.
        Senator Lujan. I appreciate that. Dr. Johnson.
        Dr. Johnson. Yes. I would say, if anything, you know, you
    have a neighboring state, Arizona, that does very well on
    Standard Time and has shown that the golf industry can thrive.
    If anything, a lot of people say, and one of the reasons
    Arizona says they stayed on Standard Time, is because it gets
    too hot later. So a lot of people do like to do exercise later,
    and that often is actually a better time for our health to get
    our exercise in. So if we can get people up so that they can be
    more active in the morning and get this exercise and enjoy all
    the wonderful things like hiking, which I know, when I have
    gone to places like New Mexico, I do in the morning you know, I
    think that we can still have all these activities on either
    time, but I think Standard Time is the healthier choice.
        Senator Lujan. Dr. Harkey.
        Dr. Harkey. So our work was looking at fatality data
    nationally rather than by individual states, in part due to
    sample size. But if the patterns hold in New Mexico, just like
    they have in our research across the country, then we are going
    to see an offset between the number of motor vehicle occupant
    deaths that have risen slightly during the time change periods,
    and pedestrian and bicyclist deaths that have decreased
    slightly during that same time period.
        And so the net effect is one of really no change when we
    look at road safety data alone. And so if you are trying to
    make this decision on the basis of just road safety, I do not
    think the results of our study are going to point you in one
    direction or the other.
        Senator Lujan. As a follow up to that, Dr. Harkey, Dr.
    Johnson pointed to a study from a professor at Eastern New
    Mexico University, Jeff Gentry, who showed 20 percent higher
    car crashes in locations where sunrises and sunsets are later.
    Now, I understand your point that darkness is a key measure of
    accidents, but this data shows me that sleep effects are
    powerful indicators as well. How do you view the risk of sleep
    deprivation on accidents versus risks from darkness?
        Dr. Harkey. So our study did not look specifically at that
    particular issue. I know other studies have, methodologies
    differ. Most of the studies that have tried to look strictly at
    that small amount of time change before and after in the
    crashes concur that the real issue here is the amount of
    ambient light and the time of day when it occurs. That darkness
    is the real key, and you just need to make sure that you are
    providing good safety interventions to address issues of
    darkness.
        So whether that is improving technologies in the vehicles
    such as headlights, automatic emergency braking, or whether you
    are putting in infrastructure measures that add more lighting,
    add more space for pedestrians and bicyclists to keep them
    separated from motorists, whatever you can do to reduce those
    conflicts in the darkness and improve awareness of other road
    users in the darkness, will be beneficial----
        Senator Lujan. Appreciate that.
        Dr. Harkey.--regardless of the time change.
        Senator Lujan. It sounds like you support my legislation to
    require technology be installed in vehicles to prevent impaired
    crashes, so I will take that as well. We will share that with
    my colleagues.
        Mr. Chairman, I have one more question for Mr. Yates on
    Standard Time versus Daylight Savings. I will submit it into
    the record.
        And just a note to the panelists, the reason I am asking so
    much about sleep is, as my colleagues know, I suffered a stroke
    3 years ago. I have learned a lot about the importance of
    sleep. I definitely lived my life burning the candle at both
    ends, and now I do my due diligence to embrace sleep hygiene
    and all the rest. And so that is bearing a lot into this
    conversation that I am having with my constituents and others.
        Mr. Chairman, I very much appreciate this hearing, though.
    Thank you all for being here.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Young.

                     STATEMENT OF HON. TODD YOUNG,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM INDIANA

        Senator Young. Well, I thank all of you for being here. I
    am the senior senator from the state of Indiana, and we have
    quite a history with Daylight Savings Time. For those of you
    who have consumed old ``Parks and Rec'' episodes, you may have
    seen the one that focused on this particular topic.
        But let me walk through some of the things that have
    transpired in our state, and I will weave in there some of the
    unique perspectives that Hoosiers have brought to this. Until
    2006, our state was chronologically divided, you might say,
    with some counties observing Daylight Savings Time and others
    not. And then in 2006, after years of debate, furious debate,
    our state decided to become the 48th state to adopt Daylight
    Savings Time.
        In central Indiana, on the shortest day of the year,
    December 21, the sun currently rises at 8:02 a.m. and sets at
    5:23 p.m. Under permanent Daylight Savings Time, sunrise would
    be delayed until 9:02 a.m., meaning Hoosiers would begin their
    day in darkness for much of the winter.
        What works for East Coast states, I am hearing from many of
    my constituents, might not work for states like Indiana. We
    have 12 counties in the western part of the state that are in
    the Central Time Zone. So Evansville, Indiana, if you are
    familiar with that, you have got up near Chicago what we call
    ``the Region'' affectionately, and there are 80 other counties
    that are in the Eastern Time Zone.
        So you know, this sort of suggests that maybe a one-size-
    fits-all national policy on time changes does not take into
    account the regional differences that significantly impact
    daily life. I understand we have a charge, Article I, Section
    8, to facilitate interstate commerce. It was one of the major
    arguments of facilitating interstate commerce from the state
    level when we had this debate. So I anticipate we have heard
    that. I anticipate I will hear more of that from my colleagues,
    but that has to be balanced against other considerations, of
    course.
        Leaving this decision to the states might allow local
    leaders, who best understand their communities, to weigh the
    specific needs of their residents, states along this line of
    argument, are in a better position to evaluate how changes in
    daylight hours affect school schedules, commuting patterns,
    public safety, and economic activity.
        So I guess to the panel, do you believe that states like
    Indiana, with their unique cultures, and geographical
    challenges, and even histories as it relates to this issue,
    should have the flexibility to make their own decision, or do
    you think this decision should be standardized across the
    country?
        We will begin with Mr. Yates, and I will give everyone an
    opportunity to speak to that, if you like. Yes, sir.
        Mr. Yates. Thank you, Senator Young, for the question. And
    I mentioned Indiana in my opening statement because it is a
    perfect example of why the Commerce Committee needs to approach
    this carefully. Because to impose onto Indiana a solution that
    is the same as for New York and for New England is not in the
    best interest of the people of Indiana and is a little bit
    rude.
        The one thing that I might say, though, is that I have
    never been to Indiana to testify, but I did go to Michigan to
    testify about their Daylight Saving Time bill. And I went to
    Nebraska and to Kansas, which are states like Indiana on the
    western edge of their time zones and would make the most sense
    for them to be in Standard Time.
        And I advocated for that with the state senators and state
    representatives in those states. And all of them told me that
    all of their constituents do not care. They would rather, like
    they are in the middle of the winter, they are already going to
    school and, right, going to work in the dark, and they would
    just like to have a little bit of time after school and after
    work to be in the light. So I said, OK, this is your state.
        Senator Young. All right.
        Mr. Yates. You get to pick.
        Senator Young. Thank you. Thank you for your response.
        Mr. Karen.
        Mr. Karen. Well, I am no constitutional scholar, for sure,
    but I do not see in the Constitution where it says that the
    Federal Government regulates time. I do not know if time falls
    under Commerce. So it would naturally fall to the states if the
    Federal Government is not empowered to do so.
        The Chairman. We have the view that everything falls under
    Commerce.
        [Laughter.]
        Mr. Karen. I appreciate that. I will say, you know, I feel
    it is less of a state issue than it feels like a personal
    issue. And the ability to do, for example, to Senator Lujan's
    comments, I can simulate or practice sleep hygiene whether the
    sun is up or down. But I cannot simulate sun hygiene. I cannot
    light the world when we want to be out there when it is dark,
    right.
        And so I think, to me it comes down to which choice, if you
    were to land on one, is going to be harder to adjust to. We are
    already on Daylight Saving Time for 8 months, so we would have
    to adjust for 4 months. If you reverse it, then we are
    adjusting 8 months of our calendar.
        Senator Young. Thank you, sir. Dr. Johnson, would you like
    to say something about this?
        Dr. Johnson. Yes. I want to talk about the western edge of
    time zones. States like yours are more aligned with Central
    Time Zones. So already on Standard Time, your sun is going to
    be overhead closer to 1. When we go to Daylight Savings Time,
    now it is closer to 2. And we see that this really impacts
    health risks, mental health risks, safety risks, how kids do in
    school.
        I want to highlight one Indiana study. When you guys ended
    going to the parts of the state that were on Standard Time----
        Senator Young. Wait, you are coming with a study? You are
    citing a study? Are we allowed to do that in this--is that
    consistent with the rules, Chairman Cruz? I am kidding, of
    course.
        Dr. Johnson. So when part of Indiana ended Standard Time
    and went to seasonal Daylight Savings Time, they found that
    kids' high school test scores were actually much better when
    they were on Standard Time and dropped when they switched to
    even seasonal Daylight Savings Time. And that is not adding the
    exponential harms of bringing those 9 a.m. sunrises, like you
    said.
        So we would love every place to be more in line with the
    sun. And as you said, states have different needs, you know,
    needs to get closer to that idea.
        Senator Young. Thank you, Doctor.
        Dr. Harkey.
        Dr. Harkey. So we did not have a preference in our study
    for one time or the other in terms of how you set it. What our
    study showed was that the risk of fatalities for pedestrians
    and bicyclists in particular rises at night, and it rises for
    all motorists as well at night.
        So the real key is, regardless of which decision you make
    and which time zone you use, you have got to make sure that you
    are putting interventions in that is going to help with those
    who are traveling in those dark hours, whether it is more in
    the morning or more in the afternoon and evening, that is the
    real key, and particularly for pedestrians and bicyclists, who
    are the overwhelming number of fatalities that are occurring in
    those dark hours.
        Senator Young. I see. I am very much over time.
        I see that Mr. Karen has something he wants to say, so I
    have been given leave by the Chairman. Please, go ahead.
        Mr. Karen. I just want to point out that Senator Scott's
    bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, kind of threads the needle.
    It creates a Federal Daylight Saving Time but allows every
    state to opt out if they choose. So I think that is maybe the
    best answer here.
        Senator Young. Good point. All right.
        Thank you, Chairman.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Markey.

                   STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD MARKEY,
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS

        Senator Markey. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very much. So
    it is 1985. It is my fifth term in the U.S. House of
    Representatives, and I become the Chairman of the Energy
    Subcommittee on the Energy and Commerce Committee. And
    searching through the jurisdiction of this wonderful
    subcommittee is, time. I guess somebody is going to have to be
    Chairman over time. And it is me. I am Chairman of time.
        And nothing had been driving me crazier than the birds
    chirping, you know, at 5 a.m. in the morning. It is sunshine
    out. It is the end of April. This is not good. So I began a
    negotiation with Bill Goodling, who is a Republican from
    Pennsylvania, to move time. And it was a hard, grudging
    discussion, but I was able to move it from the end of April to
    the beginning of April in 1986. And so that changed it, because
    at that point it was 6 months daylight, 6 months standard.
        So I was able to claw back three weeks, pretty much to
    right now. Otherwise, we would still be another two or 3 weeks
    where there is no Daylight Savings Time. Then Congressman
    Goodling left, and so in 2005 I am still on the Energy
    Subcommittee. So with Fred Upton, who is a Republican from
    Michigan, we cut another deal, and we moved it to the beginning
    of March. And we also said, let us put Halloween in Daylight
    Savings Time, and so we moved it into the beginning of
    November.
        So at that point, I am at 8 Daylight, 4 Standard. OK. So I
    am kind of proud of my two bills Changing Time. You know, they
    started to call me the Sun King, which I was kind of proud of,
    because those are big bills, Mr. Chairman, that is moving time,
    and the whole world then starts to move to that standard.
        So we had to stop there. And then two years ago, Senator
    Rubio and I, we had a bill to do Daylight Savings Time year-
    round, and it passed by unanimous consent out on the floor of
    the Senate. It was then stalled in the House, never had a vote
    over there. But I consider this kind of an inexorable march
    toward more sunshine that people can enjoy, not while they are
    asleep, you know, having the sun come in early in the morning.
        So that is my goal. My goal is just to make sure people get
    more sunshine in the evening, when they can use it, especially,
    as I heard your opening statement, Mr. Chairman, as our economy
    has changed, and we are not an agricultural-predominant economy
    any longer, although farmers play a vital role in our society,
    but we are more into the economy that we all live in today.
        So I guess my first question, Mr. Karen, is how would
    extending evening daylight support small businesses in your
    industry?
        Mr. Karen. It would add to the golf industry at least $1
    billion of economic activity. The average golf course would see
    an increase in approximately $250,000 in revenue. And I mean,
    that is an economic argument. But the golfers around America,
    the 30 million golfers would get to enjoy all of that. So that
    is the argument.
        Senator Markey. Right. But it is also true that, let us
    just go back to 1986, it is hard to start your Little League
    practices if it is still dark in the evening at the end of
    April. The kids are still not going to be allowed out into the
    dark, or you are playing tennis or walking around. So that
    change was very important to us in 1986.
        Mr. Karen. Yes. Yes.
        Senator Markey. And then again in 2009?
        Mr. Karen. My brother happens to be an athletic director at
    a high school, and he said: We do not like having to spend
    money on lights for every single activity that happens after
    school.
        Senator Markey. Yes. So would an additional hour of evening
    sunlight help businesses save money on energy costs from not
    having to turn the lights on early, much less athletic?
        Mr. Karen. Well golf, we do not light the golf courses, so
    it would not be an energy savings for us. It is mostly about
    health and economic.
        Senator Markey. Health and economic, yes.
        And Mr. Yates, what does your research say about the
    benefits of ending the switch twice a year between Daylight
    Savings Time and Standard Time?
        Mr. Yates. Thank you, Senator, for the question. And I
    appreciate the nickname that you got. It is better than the
    nickname that the Comedy Central, the ``Daily Show'' called me
    the Time Wizard, and so I was--I was not sure if I should be
    offended or not
        Senator Markey. I am going to keep Sun King for myself. OK.
        Mr. Yates. Sun King is way better than Time Wizard, right.
        Senator Markey. Yes. And I like that title.
        Mr. Yates. Yes.
        Senator Markey. Yes.
        Mr. Yates. The detrimental effects of switching the clocks
    are super clear, and it seems like we have got pretty much
    unanimous agreement about that at this point. And what is
    delightful about it from my perspective is to hear you tell
    these stories, because you clearly have been a pioneer on this
    for a long time. And what is great is that this has never been
    at all a partisan issue. It has always been a completely
    bipartisan issue, when you look at the 24 states that have
    enacted something to it.
        Senator Markey. Can I say this as well? And opposition, it
    has always been bipartisan.
        Mr. Yates. Yes.
        Senator Markey. Because I had to negotiate with
    Representative Goodling, who is a Republican, you know, on the
    other side. But I had Republican, Carlos Morehead from Orange
    County was on my side, a Republican, and I had to negotiate
    with Larry Craig, who was the Senator from Idaho. He was the
    Senator before Jim Risch. So I had to negotiate with him on
    this. He was in opposition. But I had Fred Upton from Michigan,
    who was a supporter.
        So it has always been bipartisan on either side, you know,
    these coalitions that are there. And so that is the only way,
    from my perspective, that we are going to be able to work here
    as well in order to make some progress. And you know, it is--we
    just have to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, in my
    opinion, one way or the other, or at least get more, we need
    more sunshine, you know.
        And the reason, Mr. Chairman, it is from my perspective, it
    just--when the sun is out, it just increases the likelihood
    that the corners of people's mouths are going to be turned
    upwards. They are going to be happier when the sun is out. They
    are going to be feeling good. It is why so many people move to
    Texas, by the way, and not Florida.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Markey. It is not the politics; it is the sun they
    are chasing, right. So this is, from my perspective, a
    universal feeling, right, that when that sun is out and they
    can go out and enjoy it in the evening, it just makes all the
    difference in the world to them, and so we have to find a way
    here of resolving these issues to be able to deal with it.
        And I know there are disagreements on it, including, I know
    Karin Johnson is here from Massachusetts, and she is on the
    other side of the issue, which I respect. So it is just a big
    conversation that I hope we can resolve, because I just think
    it is for the benefit of people's happiness just to have that
    sunshine available. They can do a lot more in the sunshine in
    the evening than they can do early in the morning.
        And I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity here.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Your Majesty.
        [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. And I will say, I did not know that my friend
    from Massachusetts had acquired the nickname the ``Sun King,''
    which, the previous Sun King, of course, was King Louis XIV in
    France, whose best-known statement was ``L'etat, c'est moi'' I
    am the state, which may explain the differences between Senator
    Markey and myself on the size of government.
        Senator Markey. Well, I think President Trump is quoting
    King Louis very favorably.
        The Chairman. That is a fair point, since he did, in fact,
    tweet out ``L'etat, c'est moi.''
        Senator Markey. I think I did--I saw, I did not know he
    knew French, but I think he, in fact did--in fact, quote
    favorably not even--as you are. You are doing it with a very
    high risible coefficient, I mean, you are doing it jokingly. I
    think he was serious.
        The Chairman. Well----
        Senator Markey. Although, I will say this: I think you gave
    the President good advice two days ago acting. We will call it
    more like King Louis then.
        The Chairman. Well, I will note, as you know, I lived three
    years in Massachusetts, and I remember my third year of law
    school, where it snowed in the month of May, which I thought
    was positively immoral. And as you noted, the sun is a very
    good recruiter for the Great State of Texas. I am fond of
    saying, you cannot shovel sunshine, and that is a gift.
        Senator Markey. And I will give you some news that the
    winters in Boston are now 6 degrees warmer than they were in
    1970 because of climate change. So our ponds do not even freeze
    over in the winter anymore, much less snowing in May. So maybe
    kids from Texas going to law school up in Boston now enjoy May
    a lot more than they used to.
        The Chairman. All right. So I am going to ask a couple more
    questions, then we are going to wrap up the hearing.
        Mr. Karen, give us your best argument why recreational
    daylight is so important to your members?
        Mr. Karen. My members deliver joy for a living, and they
    happen to run businesses making that happen. So to them, if
    they saw more people in the afternoons and the evenings
    enjoying the outdoors with each other, it is why they get out
    of bed. It is why they do this. So they will have better lives
    as business owners. They will be able to pay the bills a little
    bit better and reinvest in their businesses if they had a
    little bit of a boost more in the afternoons and evenings.
        The Chairman. That was helpful. Although I will say, on the
    delivering joy, I could not help but think of, I think, the
    best comedy riff ever done, which is Robin Williams' on golf.
        Senator Markey. I have seen it.
        The Chairman. Which I will note is profane but screamingly
    funny. And he points out that golf was invented by the Scots
    and how infuriating it can be at times. And he said: ``I know,
    we will call it a stroke, because when you miss, you want to
    have a stroke.''
        [Laughter.]
        Mr. Karen. Very good.
        The Chairman. All right, Dr. Johnson.
        [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. Would shifting time zones slightly address
    the concerns for communities that are in dark zone areas if the
    clock were permanently set on Daylight Saving Time, does
    shifting the time zones make a difference?
        Dr. Johnson. So we would encourage all states to be within
    their sort of time zone that is closest to the sun being
    overhead at noon. So, for example, like Indiana being more in
    the Central Time Zone versus the Eastern Time Zone would help
    get them more aligned with the sun. But it should be Standard
    Time. So there has been a push on the East Coast to have us in
    Atlantic Standard Time. That is the time set for Bermuda. That
    is not the time set for any of the East Coast.
        So you know, we want permanent standard Eastern Time, not
    permanent standard Atlantic Time, which is the exact same as
    permanent Daylight Saving Time.
        The Chairman. Dr. Harkey, what has your research found as
    it relates to traffic accidents immediately following a time
    change?
        Dr. Harkey. So that is what we were looking at as part of
    our research, was in that 5-week period before and the 5-week
    period after the time change. And when we fall back in the
    fall, vehicle occupant deaths go down about 7 percent. And when
    they spring forward, vehicle occupants' deaths go up about 12
    percent, and the exact opposite with pedestrian fatalities.
        So when we fall back pedestrian fatalities rise 13 percent,
    and then when we spring forward, they go down 24 percent. And
    so the net effect is almost zero between pedestrian and
    vehicle--pedestrian, bicyclists, and vehicle deaths. And so
    that is why our research really does not come out strongly in
    favor of either one.
        But what is clear is that darkness matters. And that is
    where we do about a quarter of our travel at night, and yet
    that is when 50 percent of the vehicle occupant deaths occur,
    and when more than three-quarters of the pedestrian deaths
    occur. So regardless of what policy decision is made with
    regards to the time and where we set the clocks, we have to
    make sure we are continuing to improve our infrastructure,
    continuing to improve vehicle technology that will address the
    safety risk that we have at night in dark conditions.
        The Chairman. So you just said darkness mattered, and it
    occurred to me, an alternative title for this hearing, instead
    of ``If We Could Turn Back Time,'' might have been ``Hello
    Darkness, My Old Friend.''
        All right. Look, this hearing was important, and I wanted
    to hear all this testimony, because I personally struggle with
    the two choices here. Because it is a question of: what do you
    care about more sunshine, and joy, and fun, and money, or
    health, mental health, physical health? And the honest answer
    for most people is, ``Gosh, I care about all that stuff. So
    that is not an easy tradeoff.
        The alternative that has been suggested is, let each state
    make that decision. And I guess it has been pointed out that
    Senator Scott's Bill does a version of that by picking Daylight
    Saving Time but then letting states opt out.
        Let me ask a practical matter: Does that work?
    Functionally, how confusing is that, having everyone pick
    different times, how does that work for commerce, for life, for
    knowing what the hell time it is? Let me have each of you
    answer that.
        Mr. Yates. Senator Cruz, thank you for that. The one little
    part of Senator Markey's history about when they changed the
    time in November was that the proposal was to move Daylight
    Saving Time to finish at the end of November. And the airlines
    came back and said: No, no, no, no. We do not want a time
    change in the middle of our busiest travel season. And so they
    were going to scrap that, and then they got the extra week to
    put it in.
        So time is always complicated. And the system that we have,
    the system that we--excuse me--the system that we have is
    complicated, but it is complicated because it is a human
    creation, right. The sun moving around the Earth does not
    actually have anything to do with time. Time is the agreement
    that we have about what 10 o'clock means, because we do not
    want to go around saying, you know, the Committee hearing will
    start when the sun is two hands above the horizon.
        We need this system. But the system has this bug right now,
    and the bug is Daylight Saving Time. It is the switching of the
    clocks. And so if we have a little bit of time, a couple of
    years, so that the individual states can address all of these
    complexities and make those decisions, then we will be able to
    get rid of this bug permanently. It is something that we have
    been stuck with since World War I, and this is our opportunity
    to finally fix it.
        The Chairman. Mr. Karen.
        Mr. Karen. You know, I am not going to say that government
    solutions cause more confusion, but you can imagine in this
    scenario that Florida is on Daylight Saving Time, Georgia right
    above it on Standard, South Carolina is on daylight, et cetera,
    in the same spot, because maybe special interests of all kinds
    made that happen.
        So I already have problems remembering which state is in
    which time zone as it is right now, sometimes the Border
    States, and add to that: Oh, they are in Central and they are
    on Standard. Oh, what time is it there exactly? So I can see
    where this causes more confusion. I wish I had a better answer
    for you on that one, but could we adjust and figure that out
    quickly? I do not know. I see it as problematic, but it may be
    the only way to thread the needle.
        The Chairman. Dr. Johnson.
        Dr. Johnson. Yes, I think, you know, the economy, the
    transportation industry, certainly needs consistency and
    alignment. So we want to make this change once. We do not want
    to pick something that is tried and then failed twice before,
    such that we spend lots of money fixing it again in a few
    years. You mentioned the economy, which again, you know, is so
    important, and you know, the majority of our workers start work
    early. The average work start time is 7:55 in the morning. So
    we would be forcing people all winter to go to work in the
    dark, really affecting their productivity and economics.
        And so while certain businesses are going to have different
    benefits of the sun, I actually do want to give sun to people
    when they use it, when they use it to get up, when they use it
    to be healthy, when they use it to be more productive and
    efficient at work and to improve the overall economy, not just
    niche businesses like the golf industry that have shown they
    can be very successful in Standard Time, like in Arizona.
        The Chairman. Dr. Harkey.
        Dr. Harkey. Strictly speaking from a road safety
    perspective, I am not sure it would make any difference if
    states had the right to select the time, because it is, again,
    about the amount of light, the amount of ambient light during
    the times of travel. And so I do not think it would have an
    impact, personally. It would probably confuse me. But that is
    if we had that problem.
        I will give you a quick anecdote. Almost 40 years ago, we
    were collecting speed data in New Mexico and Arizona as part of
    a research study. Had no idea at that time, being right out of
    school, had not really paid attention that Arizona did not
    bother to go to Daylight Saving Time, so that all of our
    equipment was an hour off when we went to pick up all the speed
    data, and we had to adjust it after the fact.
        And so I think you would have those kinds of things, right,
    that could work their way into the system, unintentional
    mistakes, if we were to get into a system where we had a lot of
    different time zones going on.
        The Chairman. Well, I, for one, am thankful for these magic
    devices that we carry, that when I land on a plane, I look down
    to figure out what time it is, because I am on a lot of planes
    and it changes.
        I want to thank each of the four of you. This has been very
    helpful testimony, and you all have different perspectives, so
    each of you has added significantly to it.
        Senators will have until the close of business on Thursday,
    April 17, to submit questions for the record. The witnesses
    will have until the end of the day on Thursday, May 1, to
    respond to those questions.
        And this concludes today's hearing. The Committee stands
    adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 11:29 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                                A P P E N D I X

          Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Ted Cruz to
                                  Scott Yates
        Question. Current law allows states to opt out of daylight saving
    time (DST) without an act of Congress. In fact, both Arizona and Hawaii
    have done so. How do you explain why only two out of 50 states have
    decided to opt out of DST?
        Answer. There are several reasons why most states have not opted
    out of DST:

      1.  Public preference: More daylight in the evening is generally
            popular, and legislatures tend to reflect the will of the
            people.

      2.  Business alignment: Many industries prefer later daylight hours,
            and states often seek to stay in sync with national economic
            patterns.

      3.  Regional coordination: States worry that being out of step with
            neighbors could cause confusion and disruption for businesses
            and travelers.

        Additional context:

       Not all of Arizona has opted out of DST. Navajo Nation
            lands, which span multiple states and are larger than 10 U.S.
            states by area, still observe the time changes.

       After the Uniform Time Act of 1966, four states initially
            chose to stay on Standard Time year-round: Hawaii, Arizona,
            Michigan, and Indiana. Michigan and Indiana later reversed
            course, opting to rejoin the spring and fall time changes
            rather than remain in Standard Time year-round.

        Regulating time zones is more complicated than it might seem.
    Today, several states (such as Indiana, Tennessee, and Nebraska)
    already have internal divisions. Rather than creating new confusion,
    the Sunshine Protection Act would actually reduce complexity by locking
    the Nation into a consistent time system, improving predictability for
    commerce. It would also give those states that are split the
    opportunity to re-unite into one time zone.
        Finally, it is important to note that in 1966, Congress did not
    have the benefit of decades of medical research now available. Studies
    today overwhelmingly show that the biannual clock changes are harmful
    to public health and safety--a fact that strengthens the case for
    Federal action by passing the Sunshine Protection Act while allowing
    states to have the rights, and the time, to choose which time zone they
    want to lock into.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                                  Scott Yates
        Public Opinion on Daylight Saving Time: Sunrises and sunsets occur
    at significantly different times within the same time zone. For
    instance, on the darkest day of the year, the sun rose in Seattle at
    7:55 AM, but in San Diego, California, it rose at 6:47 AM, over an hour
    earlier. The differences can be even more pronounced in the Central
    Time Zone, where in Williston, North Dakota, the sun rises at 8:42 AM
    while it rises nearly two hours earlier in Mobile, Alabama.

        Question 1. How does a state's location within a time zone impact
    people's opinions on Daylight Saving Time?
        Answer. A state's location within a time zone likely affects public
    opinion on Daylight Saving Time--but no polling has directly measured
    it.

       Most public opinion research on DST is conducted at the
            national or state level.

       There is little to no polling that focuses on east-west
            variations within time zones.

       Sunrise and sunset times can differ by more than an hour
            within a single time zone, as your examples show, and those
            differences likely shape people's views--but the data simply
            doesn't exist yet.

        This geographic complexity is why I recommend a two-year
    implementation period for the Sunshine Protection Act.

       A two-year window would give states, communities,
            businesses, and school districts time to experience both winter
            and summer under permanent Daylight Saving Time.

       Local policymakers could adjust school hours, work
            schedules, or advocate for a time zone shift based on real-
            world experience.

       Congress would ensure a consistent national policy while
            allowing flexibility for local adaptation--balancing Federal
            leadership with local realities.

        Question 2. Has there ever been a nationwide poll of public opinion
    on ``locking the clocks''? What do available polling data tell us about
    people's opinions on whether we should switch to permanent standard
    time, permanent Daylight Saving Time, or keep the seasonal switch?
        Answer. There have been many polls about ``locking the clocks,''
    but the quality varies depending on how the questions were asked.

       Many polls ask vague questions like ``Do you favor DST?''
            without clarifying whether that means permanent DST, permanent
            Standard Time, or keeping the seasonal clock changes.

       The clearest national poll in recent years asked voters
            directly about the Sunshine Protection Act:

         Strongly support: 45 percent

         Somewhat support: 23 percent

         Somewhat oppose: 7 percent

         Strongly oppose: 7 percent

         Don't know/No opinion: 18 percent

        State legislative action also reflects strong support for locking
    the clocks into permanent Daylight Saving Time:

       Since 1966, two states (Indiana and Michigan) initially
            opted for permanent Standard Time but later switched to
            seasonal DST.

       Only two states (Hawaii and most of Arizona) have remained
            on permanent Standard Time.

       24 states have passed legislation to adopt permanent DST if
            authorized by Congress, with many others considering similar
            measures.

        Public opinion on keeping the seasonal clock change is relatively
    small--and outweighed by clear evidence of public harm:

       Polls suggest about 10 percent of people favor continuing
            the clock changes.

       However, as with other public safety issues--for example,
            the Federal ban on metal-tipped lawn darts after they caused
            three fatalities--action is justified when lives are at stake.

       The biannual clock change is linked to:

         At least 20 additional traffic deaths each year.

         Significant increases in heart attacks, strokes, and
                other medical emergencies, contributing to hundreds or even
                thousands of premature deaths annually.

        The best way forward is to act now to end the clock-changing, while
    allowing states flexibility to adjust.

       A two-year implementation period would allow states,
            businesses, and schools to experience both winter and summer
            under both simulated time structures.

       States would have the ability to adapt: adjusting school
            start times, business hours, petitioning for a time zone change
            if appropriate, or even holding an election to let voters
            decide directly.

       This approach fixes the critical public safety problem
            immediately while respecting local preferences for how best to
            align daily schedules.

        If Congress could act decisively to ban lawn darts after three
    deaths, surely it can act now to end a practice that costs hundreds of
    lives each year.
                                     ______

        Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Ben Ray Lujan to
                                  Scott Yates
        Question 1. If your goal is to end clock changes and the health
    data supports permanent standard time, why not move everyone to
    standard time and allow Daylight Standard Time if states want, rather
    than the other way around?
        Answer. I would certainly support this.
        The problem is that while I am the founder of the wildly popular
    #LockTheClock movement, the reality is that I am just a lone citizen
    who blogs and testifies about this issue as a hobby.
        In other words, my support is not nearly enough.
        What we need is the support of health experts and business leaders.
    Advocating for permanent Standard Time as the default position will
    garner opposition from wide swaths of business groups, including
    recreation, retail, outdoor activities, etc. That will, in turn, lead
    to opposition from health groups because advocating for Standard Time,
    in reality, is advocating for keeping the status quo, which includes
    the deadly clock changing.
        As Sen. Lujan knows all too well, we should do everything we can to
    reduce the incidence of strokes in the U.S. While changes to diet,
    exercise, medication and more are important, they are also lifestyle
    changes that are difficult to legislate.
        The clock-changing, however, can be fixed and research published in
    the medical journal Circulation (V. 118, N. 3) is clear that the clock
    changing causes a significant spike in the number of strokes that
    require hospitalization.
        Interestingly, most other negative health outcomes associated with
    clock changing apply only in the spring change. Heart attacks, for
    instance, go up after alarm clocks jolt people awake an hour earlier
    than their bodies expect. Traffic accidents spike. Hospital errors
    jump. In the fall when people get an extra hour of sleep, there is no
    spike in heart attacks and we don't see the other negative health
    impacts.
        But strokes requiring hospitalization go up after the spring
    forward change, and also after the fall-back change. Clock changing in
    general causes more strokes.
        So from a health perspective, the most important thing to do is to
    take action to Lock the Clock, and the most effective way to do that is
    to enact the Sunshine Protection Act, and do so with a two-year
    implementation so that individual states can have the science-based
    discussion about which time is most appropriate for that state given
    its physical location.
        As someone who understands firsthand the impact of stroke, your
    leadership on this issue could help save countless lives across
    America.
                                     ______

    Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Lisa Blunt Rochester to
                                  Scott Yates
        Question. How does a state's location within a time zone impact
    their opinions on Daylight Saving Time?
        Answer. I haven't seen any polling specifically on this issue.
        The question, however, gets to a crucial part of what must be
    considered by the U.S. Senate when looking at a national policy.
    Typically a national policy applies to all citizens equally, but this
    one is quite different.
        Part of the reason there isn't polling is that typically pollsters
    ask questions of a national or perhaps a state sample group. There are
    no commonly used geographic areas that would make it possible to even
    conduct such polling.
        That is why my suggestion to Congress is to modify the Sunshine
    Protection Act to have a two-year implementation phase.
        Right now this debate is theoretical, and because it's been debated
    for so long, local policy makers and indeed the public have not taken
    action because they haven't had any reason to think that a healthy
    change is coming to the way we change the clocks twice per year.
        If Congress were to enact the Sunshine Protection Act--and have it
    implemented after the ``spring forward'' change in March two years
    after enactment--then every state legislature, every school board,
    every business would have the opportunity to live through a winter and
    a summer estimating where the sun is in relation to the clock. State
    legislatures, if they like, could even have statewide elections to
    determine if a state will lock the clock in permanent Daylight Time or
    Standard Time.
        In that way, the U.S. Congress would be properly fulfilling its
    role in regulating interstate commerce and the regulation of time
    zones, but local communities would be able to adopt either the
    appropriate time for their state, or adjust their schedules in ways
    that reflect their local realities.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                                   Jay Karen
        Question. On the question of what the impact would be if adjoining
    states were to elect to have different daylight time designations. I am
    pleased to offer a brief reply.
        Answer. The issue of what ``clock'' a state may be on in the future
    would be a consideration when people make plans to spend a morning,
    afternoon, day or road trip to play golf. If golfers, especially living
    near state borders where time changes (such as time zones and Daylight
    or Standard time) could impact plans, do not pay close attention or
    miscalculate the sunrise and sun setting times, they could experience
    frustration.
        With adjoining states having different ``clocks,'' tee time booking
    systems and tour operator systems will have to be specifically
    programmed to ensure daylight considerations are clear and understood
    at the time of booking. It's easy to see people making this mistake: a
    2:00 pm tee time in one state allows them to finish before dark,
    whereas a 2:00 pm tee time in a neighboring state (on the same golf
    road trip) might be curtailed by darkness.
        To be honest, it's hard to even imagine the cascading effect of
    having states on different time zones and different ``clocks'' for the
    sun. While it's easy to posit this issue as a ``states' rights'' one,
    it's not hard to see how confusion may be sowed by it. I'm sure modern
    technology in our smartphones will help us get acclimated to such
    changes, but it will be interesting to see (if it happens).
        In the golf industry, we simply know that later-afternoon sunlight
    is an important driver for increased play, which leads to better health
    and a better economy. NGCOA would be amenable to all states recognizing
    Daylight Saving Time year-round, but as we see in Texas and New Mexico,
    whose communities border Arizona, golfers can adapt to the different
    daylight periods.
                                     ______

          Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Ted Cruz to
                               Dr. Karin Johnson
        Question. Current law allows states to opt out of daylight saving
    time (DST) without an act of Congress. In fact, both Arizona and Hawaii
    have done so. How do you explain why only two out of 50 states have
    decided to opt out of DST?
        Answer. There is strong economic, communication (radio/cell phone),
    and transportation interest for states to remain in alignment with
    neighboring states and/or to be in alignment with certain states, such
    as a desire to align with Wall Street. Because any state can establish
    permanent Standard Time, there has been more hesitation to pass laws
    for standard time on a state level often wanting to defer to the
    Federal government to mandate a coordinated change so as not to cause
    major misalignment between states.
        Additionally for many years there has been a large degree of
    misinformation spread stating that permanent daylight saving time would
    lead to improvements in health, mood and safety despite the data to the
    contrary. Cited data relies on the presumption that the only harms of
    daylight saving time are the twice yearly switches and disregards any
    harm from permanent daylight saving time itself. Rather the long-term
    effects of living on Daylight Saving Time increases the risk of chronic
    diseases and worsens safety and productivity to a greater degree than
    the short-term harms after the switching of clocks in the spring and
    fall.
        Over the last 4 years, however, especially since the medical and
    scientific position statements supporting permanent standard time and
    increasing recognition of the problems with permanent daylight saving
    time, there has been growing political and public interest in adopting
    permanent standard time. This year there are more states with bills
    asking for permanent standard time than for permanent daylight saving
    time. On the other hand, over the last several years, there has been a
    rapid decline in the number of states passing bills requesting
    permanent daylight saving time. This aligns with what is being seen
    with an increasing number of national polls favoring permanent standard
    time. The most recent National gallop survey was strongly in favor of
    permanent standard time (48 percent) compared to permanent daylight
    saving time (24 percent).
                                     ______

       Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                               Dr. Karin Johnson
        Health Impacts of Daylight Saving Time: In your testimony, you cite
    several studies that have found that Daylight Saving Time is associated
    with worse sleep quality because later sunrises disrupt our natural
    circadian rhythm.

        Question 1. How are the health impacts of switching to Daylight
    Saving Time different from jet lag caused by traveling between time
    zones?
        Answer. When we travel from one time zone to another, the new
    timing of sunrise and sunset in our new location resets our circadian
    rhythms to that new time zone. This natural reset of our internal
    clocks typically occurs at the rate of 1 to 1.5 days per 1 hour of time
    zone change (that is, we typically realign to our new environment
    within a day for shorter distances and within a week for longer trips).
        Until our bodies adjust to the new local sun time, we experience a
    short-term circadian misalignment known as jet lag, the signs of which
    include fatigue, sleepiness, sleep disturbances, difficulty
    concentrating, digestive issues (such as upset stomach, diarrhea, and
    constipation), irritability, mood disturbances, headaches, and
    dizziness.
        If you are a very frequent traveler, then the constant disruption
    to circadian rhythms can be similar to the risks of shift-work
    disorder. These include increased rates of cancer, heart disease, high
    blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome,
    depression, and other metabolic and mood disorders. These are also
    similar to what is seen with the effect of setting clock time later
    under Daylight Saving Time.
        When we change clocks to Daylight Saving Time, we do not change our
    environmental light timing. Our circadian rhythms and bodily hormones
    remain more aligned to the sun's time, and this creates a long-term
    misalignment between our internal rhythms that are set by the sun and
    our social schedules that are set by the clock. This misalignment
    persists throughout the entire Daylight Saving Time period. Factors
    that increase the negative impacts of Daylight Saving Time include:

      1.  Living on the western end of a time zone, because this is where
            misalignment of clock time and sun time is largest.

      2.  Being a teenager or night owl, because their rhythms are
            naturally already delayed, compared to other population groups.

      3.  Having a start time before 8:30 AM, because their earlier work or
            school schedules necessitate earlier bedtimes to get sufficient
            sleep before their morning alarms sound, and these earlier
            bedtimes are often thwarted by the extended hours of evening
            daylight.

      4.  Observing Daylight Saving Time in winter, when unavoidably
            shorter periods of sunlight make for darker mornings, which
            deprives exposure to natural light at the time of day when our
            bodies and brains need it most.

        When clock time is moved later by Daylight Saving Time, our body
    rhythms are less able to anticipate our daily actions. In the morning,
    the alarm rings before our body naturally wants to get up. In the
    evening, we are less able to fall asleep at the time you need to go to
    bed to get enough sleep at night. This may lead to chronic sleep loss.
    Even small amounts of sleep loss can significantly increase risks of
    many health problems, including stroke, heart disease, obesity,
    depression, and dementia.
        Circadian disturbances alone can also negatively impact our health,
    even with adequate sleep. An example of this is social jet lag, such as
    when we force ourselves to wake much earlier on weekdays than when we
    naturally wake on weekends. This continual change in daily timing can
    cause digestive and metabolic hormones to be produced out of sync from
    when we are eating, which can lead to poorer processing of food,
    irritated bowel, obesity, and diabetes. Circadian disruptions increase
    wear and tear on our immunity and healing, which can increase risks of
    infections, cancer, and dementia. Alertness, sleep quality, cognition,
    mood, and performance are also strongly affected by circadian
    regularity or irregularity.
    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Question 2. In Washington state, the latest sunrises in the darkest
    parts of the year are near 8 AM, even on standard time. If the sun rise
    is already later than when most people are going to work or school,
    will a switch to Daylight Saving Time make a difference on sleep
    quality?
        Answer. When waking too early (relative to sunrise) is a problem,
    the answer is not to wake even earlier (as Daylight Saving Time
    covertly makes us do).
        Currently, Seattle has 0 days with sunrise later than 8 AM, and a
    latest winter sunrise of 7:58 AM, which would not change under
    permanent Standard Time. Permanent Daylight Saving Time would postpone
    Seattle's sunrise past 8 AM for 112 days (nearly 4 months), and it
    would delay its latest sunrise to 8:58 AM.
        Seattle's longitude is 122 degrees west, and the meridian for
    Pacific Standard Time is 120 degrees west. This close alignment between
    sun time and clock time keeps sunlight balanced across morning and
    evening, for optimal circadian health. When work schedules cause us to
    miss natural sunlight exposure both before and after work, then other
    ``zeitgebers'' (time cues) have more influence on setting our rhythms,
    such as artificial light, or when we eat our meals. But these still
    tend to balance around noon.
        Permanent Daylight Saving Time in Washington and elsewhere would
    delay winter sunrises until after most people go indoors to work and
    school for several months at a time. When morning sun light exposure is
    missed, evening sunlight exposure causes our circadian rhythms to
    delay.
        This disruption of our circadian rhythms leads to serious health
    and performance issues.
        While artificial light in the morning can help counteract circadian
    disorders such as depression and chronic fatigue, no artificial light
    can compare in brightness and quality to natural sunlight (even when
    filtered through clouds or precipitation). Furthermore, Daylight Saving
    Time's unseasonable exposure to evening daylight compounds the problems
    caused by lack of morning light. Unless individuals can expose
    themselves to high levels of artificial light (for example, 30 minutes
    of a 10,000-lux light box) each morning, as is prescribed for seasonal
    affective disorder and delayed sleep-phase syndrome, and they can
    purposely avoid artificial light in the evening (which they are more
    likely to be exposed to because they are more likely to stay up later
    during Daylight Saving Time), then their rhythms are likely to become
    delayed and chronically misaligned.
        These negative effects were seen when Russia tried permanent
    Daylight Saving Time between 2011 and 2014, before their nation finally
    switched to permanent Standard Time. 16 percent more adolescents had
    over two hours of social jet lag during permanent Daylight Saving Time
    compared to permanent Standard Time. In other words, one hour of clock
    change led to over two hours of circadian misalignment in susceptible
    individuals.
        Many studies show that having a clock time set one hour later than
    sun time can negatively affect both sleep duration and quality. The
    effect is greater for locations on the western ends of time zones,
    where circadian alignment is already delayed. Circadian rhythms most
    obviously affect sleep, but they also play very important roles in the
    timing of all bodily systems. Thus a delayed rhythm negatively effects
    metabolism, digestion, immunity, healing, hormones, heart health, and
    brain function, to name a few.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                                Dr. David Harkey
        Lighting Conditions and Roadway Safety: In the 1970s, the United
    States piloted year-round Daylight Saving Time. At the time, it was
    widely reported that mothers raised significant concerns about their
    children walking to school in the dark in the winter. They understood
    that visibility was a serious safety concern. Nationwide, over 70
    percent of fatal accidents involving pedestrians occur at night.

        Question 1. How do low light conditions impact roadway safety for
    drivers and pedestrians?
        Answer. Low lighting levels at night reduce a driver's ability to
    detect and recognize pedestrians. It is estimated that the time between
    6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. accounts for around 22 percent of miles
    traveled,\1\ but in 2023 55 percent of all traffic fatalities and 80
    percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred in the dark or low light
    (including dawn/dusk).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ EPA (2020). Population and activity of onroad vehicles in
    MOVES3. EPA-420-R-20-023. https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/
    si_public_record_report.cfm?Lab=OTAQ&dirEntryId=328870

        Question 2. No matter what time the sun goes down, what roadway
    improvements can cities and states make to reduce pedestrian
    fatalities?
        Answer. The clearest result from our daylight saving time study was
    that pedestrians and bicyclists are at greater risk in low-light and
    dark conditions, regardless of what time of day those conditions occur.
    Having sidewalks in urban and suburban areas or separated paths or
    paved shoulders in rural areas helps to ensure pedestrians are not
    walking in the vehicle travel lanes.\2\,\3\ The addition of
    lighting along these corridors and at intersections also makes a
    difference.\4\,\5\ At crossing locations, the use of
    rectangular rapid flashing beacons and pedestrian-triggered lighting
    can increase motorist yielding behavior.\6\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \2\ Elvik, R., Høye, A., Vaa, T., & Sørensen, M.
    (2009) The Handbook of Road Safety Measures. Emerald Group Publishing,
    Leeds, England.
        \3\ Gan, A., Shen, J., & Rodriguez, A. (2005). Update of Florida
    Crash Reduction Factors and Countermeasures to Improve the Development
    of District Safety Improvement Projects. Florida Department of
    Transportation. https://fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/
    default-source/research/reports/fdot-bd015-04-rpt.pdf
        \4\ Retting, R. A., Ferguson, S. A., & McCartt, A. T. (2003). A
    review of evidence-based traffic engineering measures designed to
    reduce pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes. American Journal of Public
    Health, 93, 1376-1598. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.93.9.1456
        \5\ Wanvik, P. O. (2009). Effects of road lighting: an analysis
    based on Dutch accident statistics 1987-2006. Accident Analysis &
    Prevention, 41, 123-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap
    .2008.10.003
        \6\ Hu, W., Van Houten, R., Cicchino, J. B., Engle, J., & Al
    Shomaly, L. (2025). Effects of crosswalk illuminators and rectangular
    rapid flashing beacons on speed reductions and yielding to pedestrians
    at night. Transportation Research Record. https://doi.org/10.1177/
    036119812
    41310131

        Question 3. What vehicle technologies can help protect pedestrians
    when it is difficult for drivers to see?
        Answer. There are two vehicle technologies that are most important
    to help protect pedestrians. First, headlights--the original collision
    avoidance technology. We have been rating headlights for nearly a
    decade, and automakers have subsequently been improving their
    headlights. We have been able to show that vehicles with headlights
    with good ratings in our tests can reduce nighttime pedestrian crashes
    by 23 percent compared to vehicles with poor-rated headlights.\7\
    Second, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. We have
    shown that early systems reduced pedestrian crash risk by 32 percent
    during the day but did not reduce pedestrian crashes in the dark.\8\
    However, automakers are now improving these systems to work better at
    night and score higher in IIHS's testing program.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \7\ Brumbelow, M. L. (2022). Light where it matters: IIHS headlight
    ratings are correlated with nighttime crash rates. Journal of Safety
    Research, 83, 379-387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.
    2022.09.013
        \8\ Cicchino, J. B. (2022). Effects of automatic emergency braking
    systems on pedestrian crash risk. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 172,
    Article 106686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap
    .2022.106686

        Combatting Drowsy Driving: Sleep experts believe that Daylight
    Saving Time impacts people's sleep quality, which could lead to more
    people driving while they are tired. Driving while sleep-deprived has
    similar risks to driving while drunk. The AAA Foundation for Traffic
    Safety estimates there are over three hundred thousand crashes each
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    year caused by drowsy driving.

        Question 1. How can the vehicle safety requirements in the
    Bipartisan Infrastructure Law mitigate drowsy driving? Which
    technologies should USDOT be prioritizing?
        Answer. There are several companies working on technologies to
    monitor drivers, assess their level of distraction or lack of
    engagement in the driving task, and potentially detect drowsy driving.
    There are other groups working on technologies to detect alcohol
    impairment prior to starting the vehicle and during the trip. All of
    these technologies need to be pursued, given our state of road safety.
    Remember, alcohol impairment, distraction, and drowsy driving
    contribute to more than a third of our fatalities. We need to invest in
    multiple technologies to find those that are most effective and
    feasible. We also need NHTSA to issue the rule to mandate advanced
    impaired driving technology as required of them under the Bipartisan
    Infrastructure Law.

        Question 2. What can state and local governments do now to improve
    their infrastructure to address drowsy driving?
        Answer. Drowsy driving often results in lane departure crashes,
    either off the right side of the road into a fixed object, into an
    adjacent same-direction lane sideswipe collision, or across a
    centerline in a head-on collision. The use of rumble strips both on the
    edge of the roadway and the centerline can be an effective way to alert
    drowsy drivers.\9\ On approaches to intersections, the use of
    transverse rumble strips or stripes, advance warning flashers, and
    strobe lights in red signal faces can serve a similar
    purpose.\2\,\10\-\11\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \9\ Torbic, D. J., Hutton, J. M., Bokenkroger, C. D., Bauer, K. M.,
    Harwood, D. W., Gilmore, D. K., Dunn, D. K., Ronchetto, J. J., Donnell,
    E. T., Sommer III, H. J., Garvey, P., Persaud, B., & Lyon, C. (2009).
    NCHRP Report 641: Guidance for the Design and Application of Shoulder
    and Centerline Rumble Strips, Transportation Research Board, Washington
    D.C. https://cmfclearinghouse.fhwa.dot.gov/studydocs/nchrp_rpt_641-
    GuidanceRumbleStrips.pdf
        \10\ Park, Y.-J. & Saccomanno, F.F. (2005). Collision frequency
    analysis using tree-based stratification. Transportation Research
    Record, 1908, 121-129. https://doi.org/10.1177/036119810
    51908001
        \11\ Srinivasan, R., Carter, D., Persaud, B., Eccles, K., & Lyon,
    C. (2008). Safety evaluation of flashing beacons at stop-controlled
    intersections. Transportation Research Record, 2056, 77-86. https://
    doi.org/10.3141/2056-10

        Safe System Approach to Roadway Safety: Roadway fatality rates in
    the United States are 15 percent higher than they were a decade ago. In
    Washington state, 810 people died in traffic in 2023, a 10 percent
    increase from the year before and the largest number of traffic deaths
    in the state since 1990.
        Currently, three Federal agencies, the Federal Highway
    Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and
    the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, work with State
    Departments of Transportation, state law enforcement agencies, and
    state safety agencies to improve highway safety. Often, these agencies
    are siloed and lack meaningful communication and coordination.
        We have learned from other industries, including the aviation
    industry, that safety is the responsibility of everyone involved in a
    system. In the aviation industry, we know that looking at safety
    holistically and creating redundancy is essential to preventing
    mistakes that could lead to fatal accidents.

        Question 1. How do we create redundancy in safety measures to
    prevent fatalities on our roads?
        Answer. Redundancy is a key principle in the safe system approach.
    Each of the Federal and state agencies mentioned is responsible for
    part of the system, but no agency has decision-making authority for all
    of the surface transportation system. At a minimum, there must be
    deliberate and better communication between the agencies at the
    executive level, but perhaps more critically at the staff level. The
    staff are ultimately the ones who know what interventions work to
    address specific problems on our roadways and how they can provide that
    level of redundancy.

        Question 2. What safety features can be incorporated into vehicle
    and road design to ensure that one human error does not lead to a
    deadly accident?
        Answer. That is the question that should be asked for every
    challenge we face--how do we prevent a mistake by a driver, pedestrian,
    bicyclist, or motorcyclist from becoming a fatality? This is another
    principle of the safe system approach--we are human, we will make
    mistakes, but no one should die because of a mistake.
        I will give you one example of vehicle and infrastructure
    interventions to address a particular type of crash--running off the
    edge of the roadway and striking a rigid object. We need good edge
    lines, may use rumble strips or rumble stripes, include a paved
    shoulder for recovery area, and may have a guardrail to prevent
    striking that object.\9\,\12\-\13\ In the
    vehicle, we now have technology to provide lane departure warnings and
    lane-keeping systems. These interventions support each other to prevent
    that run-off-road collision.\14\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \12\ Dissanayake, S. & Galgamuwa, U. (2017). Estimating Crash
    Modification Factors for Lane Departure Countermeasures in Kansas.
    Center for Transportation Research and Education, Iowa State
    University, Ames, IA. https://www.intrans.iastate.edu/wp-content/
    uploads/2018/07/Kansas_lane-departure_CMFs_w_cvr.pdf
        \13\ Park, J., Abdel-Aty, M. & Lee, J. (2016). Evaluation of the
    Safety Effectiveness of Installing Roadside Barriers with Different
    Driver, Vehicle, Weather, and Time of Day Conditions. Proceedings of
    the 95th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Paper No.
    16-0678, Washington, D.C.
        \14\ Cicchino, J. B. (2018). Effects of lane departure warning on
    police-reported crash rates. Journal of Safety Research, 66, 61-70.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2018.05.006

        Question 3. How does a safe system approach protect all the people
    who use our roads, including pedestrians and people riding on transit?
        Answer. Another principle of the safe system approach is to ensure
    safety for ALL road users. We have clearly failed the most vulnerable
    on our roadways--pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists--whose
    deaths have increased 49 percent in the 10-year period from 2014 to
    2023. From planning to design to operations, we have to consider the
    context of the environment, including factors like who the road users
    are, what types of vehicles use the road, and if the environment is
    rural or urban. That context can then be used to build a safety matrix
    of feasible infrastructure, vehicle, speed, behavior, and post-crash
    care interventions that will protect all road users.
                                     ______

    Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Lisa Blunt Rochester to
                                Dr. David Harkey
        Question 1. What can states and local governments do now to improve
    their infrastructure to address drowsy driving?
        Answer. Drowsy driving often results in lane departure crashes,
    either off the right side of the road into a fixed object, into an
    adjacent same-direction lane sideswipe collision, or across a
    centerline in a head-on collision. The use of rumble strips both on the
    edge of the roadway and the centerline can be an effective way to alert
    drowsy drivers.\9\ On approaches to intersections, the use of
    transverse rumble strips or stripes, advance warning flashers, and
    strobe lights in red signal faces can serve a similar
    purpose.\2\,\10\-\11\

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