'Should the clocks go back?' Poll discussion

snowman2_2

We are too fixated with 9 - 5. If schools in Scotland are worried about daylight, let them operate different opening hours in winter. If your business trades with Europe, work 8 - 4 so you synchronise with Europe. If you do all your trade with the US work in the afternoon or evening. Rather than change the time-zone because we live where we do, change the times we do things to suit individuals / schools / businesses. In our 24 hour society, surely that can't be too hard?

payitforwardeddie_2

Why can't we stick with GMT. After all, didn't we invent it.

davetrousers

The shortest day is roughly the 21st December. So why do we move them back (to GMT) approximately 2 months before (in the last weekend of October), but move them forwards (to BST) approximately 3 months after?

I think we should still switch between GMT and BST but change to BST at the end of February.

KevinG

I do wish people wouldn't talk about stopping putting the clocks back. We don't put them back, we put the forward for the summer. The system works well as it is, although maybe the dates could do with tweaking a bit as I think we spend slightly too long on summer time at the moment. It is sensible to keep the change in sync with the rest of Europe (who are mostly one hour ahead, year-round) so that isn't likely to happen without wide agreement.

The BST all year round experiment was tried in the late 60s/early 70s and in the winter it was horrible! Please let's not go there again.

MrsBartolozzi

I think the clocks should be returned to GMT in October and kept there. The notion that BST is somehow "right" wouldn't come up then.
It's dark enough in the mornings in December without making us wait another hour for sunrise.
It's not just the schools, when I worked on a building site it was usual to start at 8.00-8.30am, with the time slipping towards 9am as the mornings darkened. Not having dawn til mid morning would cause lots of problems for those who are reliant on daylight to work.

We are too fixated with 9 - 5. If schools in Scotland are worried about daylight, let them operate different opening hours in winter. If your business trades with Europe, work 8 - 4 so you synchronise with Europe. If you do all your trade with the US work in the afternoon or evening. Rather than change the time-zone because we live where we do, change the times we do things to suit individuals / schools / businesses. In our 24 hour society, surely that can't be too hard?

So what's the problem leaving things the way they are then in our "24 hour society"? I don't understand your argument. On the one hand you say not to be fixated on 9-5, fine I agree; but then suggest Scotland should adjust their day so those further south don't have to. In the 24 society you talk of there should be no need for clock adjusting. Why don't the southerners just start their day earlier if they want o have lighter evenings to do ...(what precisely? sit in their gardens in the winter??)

thegrifter

I live in NE Scotland and quite frankly I don't care much which time we use, just pick one and stick to it.

I figure most kids get a lift to school these days and for those who don't there are still street lights and as for the SAD sufferers we still have the same amount of daylight regardless of the time we are on unless it's overcast, and well, we can't quite control the weather yet!!!

Ultimately whatever it's decided that we do, there are those who will remain unhappy...some because it genuinely doesn't suit them and others who...well....will never be happy whatever is done.

TaBunny

shellieholly wrote: »

I'm fairly certain Australia has a hour shift, and I know America does (aside from 1 state I think) Why is it such a problem, it comes up year after year.

For me - or more for the children having to walk to school (Some still do!) it would make it extremely dangerous where we live - cars have a tendancy to make up the rules on the road driving as they please speed and sense wise, they forget what pedestrian crossings and islands are for.

Sort more important things out than messing with things that aren't broken.

I don't think the clocks will make them drive any better

PlasticMan_2

jsknight100 wrote: »

I would like to see the clocks not put back in the Autumn & the following Spring the clocks put forward an hour & the next Autumn put the clocks back.

jsknight is right. This poll is asking the wrong question (or missing out the main suggested option) and doesn't go far enough.

Aside from RoSPA campaigning for single/double summertime (GMT+1/BST in winter and GMT+2 in the summer) for safety reasons there's a large and growing campaign for the same thing focussing on the environmental benefits. Most people could leave their lights off a lot longer in the evenings, using less electricity, saving themselves money and benefiting the environment.

Find out more at the Lighter Later website:
http://www.lighterlater.org/

They suggest that this could be a quick, cheap and easy way to lower emissions, cut road deaths, help tackle obesity, create new jobs and make people happier.

Also, as suggested by some others, I have no problem with Scotland having different times. This is relatively common in the US and Australia and can actually be a bit of a novelty.

LouB_2

I thought about this a lot last winter when walking the dog after work. I much prefer to do this in daylight, and although I have a lot of flexibility in my working hours, it would be pushing a point too far to finish at 3pm.

What grates most is that before the clocks go forward, its light before I get up, but its still dark really early. Daylight in the evenings is far more useful, for gardening, DIY etc. I personally would like to see "summertime" all year round, although not necessariy double summertime in the summer months. But as a compromise alternative, I would say put the clocks forward sooner in the year- as soon as this would still give daylight at say 7am for most of the UK, and put them back later. Then there's no added problem for children going to school, and those who need daylight to start work, but benefits in the evening.

billshep

I think we should continue to change back to GMT in the winter - an extra hour of darkness would push many commuters into that really dicey early morning period when it's not quite light, but really cold and hence most black ice is about and you are less likely to see the dangers - apart from really cold periods, getting dark earlier in the evening would not make much difference to icy roads.
An extra hour of light in the winter evenings would make absolutely no difference to me as I'm rarely home from work before 6:30 and even with summertime, it's pretty much dark by this time of day in late October when the clocks change......