Should the clocks have gone back? Poll discussion/results

SarahNeedle1872

I voted for put them back, not because I like the extra light in the evening, but because it means one day per year, I actually get an extra hour in bed!

pboae

I don't care if they go back or not, I just wish they would leave it one way or another. It's the swapping back and forth that drives me mad.

CCCele

> whilst those of you who were not on this planet when CET was first trailed have no practical experience of it only a misguided perception of it’s benefits.

Things change. It was trialled 40 years ago. People's working habits have changed drastically since then. To say younger people are misguided because they did not experience it is correct. The only way to be properly guided is for today's generation to have a chance to experience it.

If everyone followed the blinkered "it didn't work then so it cannot possibly work now" route, no progress would ever be made after a failure.

Coveredinbees!!!!

What difference does it make it's still the same number of hours day light however you do it????

saw2k

Time, in this case, is just about measuring and segmenting periods of the rotation of the earth, so I say stick to GMT. Midday should be at midday.

Farmers and the like could easily just do things at different times for half of the year and save everyone else the trouble.

To me changing the time itself for everyone rather than the time that a particular group of people do something is silly.

It's a good job that the person that had this idea didn't continue:

"Due to the seasonal change in fishing locations, the world map will be represented the other way up for half of the year (with all latitudes and longitudes reversed), in order to assist fishermen."

flying_teddy

The poll didn't include the most obvious answer, and that is not to put the clocks forwards in the spring.

The fact is that the mornings don't get lighter (or darker, or whatever it is) the fact is that we do things earlier or later.

For example, Take the trip to school. During the winter, the kids undertake the trip to school to arrive by 9 o'clock (say). In spring, when the clocks go forward, this journey is undertaken an hour earlier, at 8 o'clock; It's just that we CALL it 9 o'clock by virtue of moving the clocks. So why not just go to school at 8 o'clock - because that is ACTUALLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

The messing about changing the clocks is so stupid. If you need to have daylight for school journeys, change the school opening by an hour. I repeat - THIS IS WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. it's just called a different thing.

Not moving the clocks would have so many advantages. Overnight operations (Trains, planes, TV & Radio, hospitals, buses, newspapers, police, electricity supply, gas, water, garages etc., etc., etc) will no more have to mess about gaining and losing chunks of the day. Overnight trains and planes will no longer arrive an hour late (or early), an hour of TV programming will no longer disappear (or need obtaining), arguments about getting paid an hour's overtime (for the 17% of UK workers who work nights) will no longer happen.....

And additionally, there will no longer be thousands upon thousands of wasted man-hours changing all the nations clocks twice a year. We have 15 clocks in our house, clocks in cars, clocks in microwaves, clocks in VCRs etc., mantle clocks, wall clocks, alarm clocks (but not clocks in PCs which generally change themselves), all of which require manual intervention. Multiply this by 25 million households, and that's a lot of clocks! This could be regarded as OK, but what about all the clocks in business and service premises which need to be changed on overtime - someone has to pay.

The arguments about business hours are equally fatuous. If we want to do business with Europe, then get to the office an hour earlier - I repeat, this is what is actually happening, we arrive at 8 o'clock, but we call it 9 o'clock. We seem to be quite happy to do business with China, Hong Kong, America etc. with many hours difference quite happily. And all the confusion because America changes a week later than Europe.. nightmare.

And no, the cows don't give a hoot (or moo I suppose) what the time is. Farmer has to get up when the sun does no matter what you call the time.

So, to sum up: change the time you do things, not the clocks. That way you cut out half the problem.

God Bless GMT!

torbrex

I agree with the posters that say the clocks should not be put forward in the spring, they should be left a GMT and individual groups or companies should be left with the choice to go to work earlier.

jim32140

In the depth of winter there are only so many hours of daylight. It would be better to not put the clocks back, as so many people have wasted the first hour of daylight,since the clocks went back, because they dont leave home until the new 8 oclock.
Summertime is another example of wasted daylight, as most people are still asleep for the first 2 hours of daylight. How much energy could be saved, at no cost, if in summer the clocks went forward 2 hours, thus delaying the switching on of lights in homes, offices,factorys, streets and motorways. A very simple cost free way of saving, I dont know how much it would save in reduced electricity consumption. It must be in the millions.

aubergine

Martin was absolutely right to differentiate between the Scots and everybody else, although perhaps for the nit-pickers he should have said 'domiciled Scots'

Those who get uptight about the Scots influencing this are presumably ignorant of the shorter winter days up here - it's dark for considerably longer than it is in the south of England.

The current system allows children to mostly travel to and from school in daylight right through the year. Any changes and they would be travelling in the dark for a period of time, surely nobody thinks that's a good idea.

Zundapp

I live in Scotland, and although the daylight hours up here really are shorter in the winter than down south, personally I don't care whether or not the clocks change. However, I don't have kids at school and if I had, that would influence my thoughts on the matter.

I suspect that a lot of people are annoyed at having to change the clocks at all, so remember, you enthusiasts for continental time, that they still change the clocks over there twice a year, keeping one hour ahead of us anyway. Usually the main drive for fiddling with BST/GMT is by the business community who simply want us to be on the same time as our continental neighbours for their own business purposes. NOT to help out you or me.

One thing I have difficulty understanding is why people quote dubious statistics to support their point of view. I have read that most road accidents are on Friday evening when people are going home from work - how does that square with the stuff quoted that 'most accidents are in the mornings'? Statistics prove whatever you want them to.