Time Change Can Affect Your Driving, Says CHP

Fall back time Daylight SavingDon’t forget to set your clocks back tonight!

Press release from the CHP:

“Fall Back!” Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 4. The time change may disrupt sleep patterns and affect the ability to concentrate and safely operate a motor vehicle. To highlight the dangers of fatigued driving, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) joins the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and the National Sleep Foundation in recognizing Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, November 5-12, 2018.

“Safely operating a motor vehicle while on California’s roadways should be the goal of every driver, and that includes staying alert and not allowing yourself to drive while drowsy,” said CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley. “Drowsy driving can be as much of an impairment as drugs or alcohol.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states going without sleep for at least 18 hours is the same as having a blood alcohol content of .05 percent.

“We all have places to go, but if you are too tired to drive, you should not be driving,” OTS Director Rhonda Craft said. “Like impaired or distracted driving, drowsy driving puts yourself and others at risk.”

Caltrans will use the electronic Changeable Message Signs along highways to raise awareness of the dangers of drowsy driving. Almost 900 signs across the state will display the message “Feel Drowsy? Exit and Rest.”

“In today’s 24/7 society, we need a good reminder that if you are driving fatigued or sleepy you need to exit and rest rather than putting your life and others in jeopardy,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “Caltrans maintains more than 80 safety roadside rest areas across the state.”

To find a rest area in your area, or to check for the latest travel information on state highways, visit http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/.

Some suggested tips to avoid drowsy driving include: getting enough sleep (at least seven hours a day), sticking to a sleep schedule, and avoid alcohol or medications that can cause drowsiness. Caffeinated beverages may help in the short term, but are not a substitute for sleep or rest. Make it your goal to minimize the risks of driving drowsy for you, your passengers, and other motorists

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28 Comments
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tax payer
Guest
tax payer
5 years ago

what time is it

J
Guest
J
5 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

It’s Howdy Doody time!

Steve Parr
Guest
Steve Parr
5 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

It’s always ice cream time.

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
5 years ago

psa

LuckyPunk
Guest
5 years ago

Also,expect your coworkers to be extra crabby.

CLAUDIA Johnson
Guest
CLAUDIA Johnson
5 years ago

I always change my clocks on Saturday sometimes earlier in the afternoon so you get used to what time to go to bed it doesn’t really affect me too much the time change some people it affects a lot so please do what the CHP asked drive careful

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
5 years ago

I’d rather stay on DST year round. I don’t care if it’s dark when I get up but I sure like to have a little daylight left when I finish work.

barn owl
Guest
barn owl
5 years ago
Reply to  I like stars

I agree.
Everybody, PLEASE VOTE NO on the measure to take Daylight Saving Time away from California!

Steve Parr
Guest
Steve Parr
5 years ago
Reply to  barn owl

See my comment below.

Claudia Myers
Guest
Claudia Myers
5 years ago
Reply to  I like stars

If you want the legislature to consider year round Daylight Savings time you should vote yes.
A no vote means California would maintain its current Daylight Savings time period.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Claudia Myers

Right now the Fed rules are that each State can choose to change with the rest of the country to Daylight Savings time or not change at all. This proposition strikes the wording in the California Constitution that says we must change.

At some time in the future, if Congress allows a State to pick and stay with Daylight Savings Time, the California Legislature would be free to do so. But there is almost no chance that Congress will take this issue up so nothing will change for the foreseeable future. So nothing will happen unless Congress acts anyway.

White Rabbit
Guest
White Rabbit
5 years ago

I’m late, I’m late

Willie Caso-Mayhem
Guest
5 years ago

This is true.

Willie Caso-Mayhem
Guest
5 years ago

This is true but can be avoided.

Divide by Zero
Guest
Divide by Zero
5 years ago

Manipulation of the clock is the last thing you need concern yourself with on the roads in Humboldt.

Scooter
Guest
Scooter
5 years ago

If you get drowsy while driving, take your shoes off and scrunch your toes around a bit. It helps get the blood flowing. The stench of your feet filling up your car can also provide a little stimulus.

Steve Parr
Guest
Steve Parr
5 years ago

Why not leave the time the fuck alone, and alter schedules to allow for shorter days? Instead of turning clocks backward and forward, people could go to work, businesses could open, etc. one hour earlier or later.

This seems to make more sense than trying to tell me it’s one o’clock when the sun is directly overhead, which is and has been forever the arbiter of noon.

Amimissingsomething
Guest
Amimissingsomething
5 years ago

420 time in Humboldt

Adam Dresser
Guest
Adam Dresser
5 years ago

I’m confused. Shouldn’t this be a spring announcement? We get an extra hour this weekend! How is that supposed to lead to drowsy driving? I must be missing something.

And for the record, I really wish we would stop changing the time twice a year. Let’s pick a time (I prefer DST) and just stick with it.

Steve Parr
Guest
Steve Parr
5 years ago
Reply to  Adam Dresser

During Daylight Savings Time, noon is not at 12:00.

lauracooskey
Guest
lauracooskey
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve Parr

I agree with all your comments, Steve. DST is just one more way to assure that our everyday customs are unrelated to what the earth and heavenly bodies are doing. I like midnight to be middle of the night, and high noon to be when the sun is highest in the sky. What’s the problem with doing that year-round? If economists are so concerned that we could be using that summer daylight at the end of the day, just start work or get up earlier.

antichrist
Guest
antichrist
5 years ago

i wonder what the chp is doing to ensure their officers are well rested and not drowsey ? making these press releases sure seems like a big load of smoke up the you guessed it. how about a statement saying something like we are doing xyz to ensure our officers aee not drowsey because of the time change we ask you kindly to some of the same. guess they must be super chps or some shir.

LostCoastEMP
Guest
LostCoastEMP
5 years ago

“Time…. it’s always on my side!”

(Stephen Harris)

Tailgate
Guest
Tailgate
5 years ago

i cant drive no more they took my lisence away

CanYouSmellThat?
Guest
CanYouSmellThat?
5 years ago

In Arizona, people are relieved of this unnecessary stress. Isn’t it time for Calif. to opt out?

Arizona is exempt from DST according to the US Energy Policy Act of 2005. The Act gives every state or territory the right to decide if it wants to use DST. If DST is observed, the state has to schedule DST in sync with the rest of the US: From the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November.

Because of Arizona’s hot climate, DST is largely considered unnecessary. The argument against extending the daylight hours into the evening is that people prefer to do their activities in the cooler evening temperatures.

Steve Parr
Guest
Steve Parr
5 years ago

But…the daylight hours aren’t extended into evening. The daylight hours remain exactly the same. No time is gained or lost – we just get up and go to bed an hour earlier or later, which we could do just as well without trying to convince ourselves it’s not what time the sun tells us it is.

Is everyone so involved with their damned smart phones that they can’t look up and see the sky? There’s a sun up there. It’s not a man-made satellite, subject to our whims. The rhythm of all life is set by the movement of the sun. Noon is when the sun is straight up, and to deny that is to deny our connection to, and dependency on the sun for our very existence.

lauracooskey
Guest
lauracooskey
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve Parr

You are straight up with this, Steve!

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