Abstract
(1) Background: Approximately 73 countries worldwide implemented a daylight saving time (DST) policy: setting their clocks forward in spring and back in fall. The main purpose of this practice is to save electricity. The aim of the present study was to find out how DST affects the incidence and impact of seriously injured patients. (2) Methods: In a retrospective, multi-center study, we used the data recorded in the TraumaRegister DGU® (TR-DGU) between 2003 and 2017 from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. We compared the included cases 1 week before and after DST. (3) Results: After DST from standard time to summertime, we found an increased incidence of accidents of motorcyclists up to 51.58%. The result is consistent with other studies. (4) Conclusion: However, our results should be interpreted as a tendency. Other influencing factors, such as time of day and weather conditions, were not considered.
Highlights
In 2021, 73 nations worldwide conducted daylight saving time (DST) transitions in a biannual manner, adjusting the clock in order to establish a scenario in which the daylight is maximal utilized for waking activity.In 2019, the EU Parliament accepted the EU Commission’s proposal to abolish the time change in 2021
The complex picture emerging from this review showed day- and time-dependent potentially positive or negative short-term effects of DST and a possible positive long-term effect
More traffic accidents occurred after the time change (n = 3459 vs. 3582), but it was not statistically significant (p = 0.131)
Summary
In 2021, 73 nations worldwide conducted DST transitions in a biannual manner, adjusting the clock in order to establish a scenario in which the daylight is maximal utilized for waking activity. In 2019, the EU Parliament accepted the EU Commission’s proposal to abolish the time change in 2021. The changeover is to remain until at least 2026. The basis for the abolition of the clock changeover was a survey of people living in the EU. In this (non-representative) online survey, 84 percent voted in favor of ending the switch between summer and winter time. A total of 4.6 million people took part, two-thirds of them from Germany [1]
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