Is Daylight Saving Time Still A Good Idea?

WASHINGTON - You'll be moving your clocks back an hour this weekend. But is daylight saving time -- something thought up by Ben Franklin -- really necessary in the 21st century?

David Prerau, author of "Seize the Daylight" says it is still useful.

"One of the major benefits of daylight saving time today is to save energy," he says.

Prerau says the extension of daylight saving time a few years ago saved .5 percent of energy every day. It also spreads out energy usage, so power companies can produce energy more efficiently.

But energy savings aren't the only benefits. Prerau says DST reduces traffic accidents too.

"In fact in some countries, like Great Britain, they consider it the major advantage of daylight saving time," he says.

Prerau says DST gives an hour more light in the evening.

"In most places there's much more traffic in the evening than in the morning, so it gives that a saving of 1 to 2 or 3 percent a day of traffic accident fatalities."

Opponents say darker mornings aren't safe for kids who are traveling to school. Farmers also say they're against DST because they have to adjust their schedules to the sun.

Standard time returns at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, while DST returns the second Sunday in March.

Meanwhile, with changing clocks already on residents' minds, firefighters across the country say this also is a good time to check your smoke detectors.

On an average day in the United States, about eight people die in house fires. Capt. Willie Bailey, with the Fairfax County Fire Department, says most of those deaths could be prevented.

"There's a probably 90 percent chance that if you have working smoke alarms in every room on every level that you would get out of this home safely," Bailey says.

Bailey says smokes alarms should be tested every month, and you should practice your escape routes every six months.

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