Now’s your time to catch up on some sleep. As we approach the winter months, clocks are about to ‘fall back’ one hour.
This Sunday (Nov. 7) at 2 am, Daylight Savings Time (DST) comes to an end, with clocks across most of British Columbia and Canada dialling back to 1 am.
This means it will get lighter out earlier in the morning and darker earlier in the day.
And while clocks on cellphones will likely change automatically, chances are other clocks will have to be changed manually.
Tired of the time change?
You’re not alone. It seems a big majority of BCers would rather scrap the annual time change altogether.
In the summer of 2019, the Province of B.C. conducted a survey asking people if they’d prefer a move to permanent DST.
The feedback was nearly unanimous, with over 93 per cent of the record 223,273 respondents indicating they would.
Diving into the findings, more than half responded that it was “important” or “very important” for B.C. to align its time observance with neighbouring jurisdictions.
A few months later, on Oct. 31, the government introduced legislative amendments that will allow for the fall time change to be a thing of the past.
However, the feds said the change wouldn’t take effect until B.C. can maintain alignment with Washington, Oregon, California and Yukon.
That said, DTS returns at 2 am on March 13, 2022.
Time changes prompt safety reminders from ICBC:
As daylight hours decrease, local RCMP and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) stress safety.
Pedestrians become more vulnerable this time of year, ICBC says. It’s pointing to data that finds nearly half of all crashes with pedestrians happen between October and January.
“In B.C., 79 per cent of crashes involving pedestrians happen at intersections,” states the ICBC website.
“Whether it’s taking a break from your phone or yielding the right-of-way, we all need to do our part to keep pedestrians safe.”
With this in mind, it asks drivers to always stay focused on the road and expect the unexpected when behind the wheel.
As for pedestrians, they should always cross at crosswalks and wear clothing that’s as reflective as possible. This will make it easier for drivers to see you in wet weather, at dusk and at night.
