Efforts to make daylight saving time permanent and avoid the fall back time change continue to stall in Congress, but it wouldn't be the first time Americans stayed on DST year-round. The U.S. actually tried it once in the 1970s, but the experiment quickly fell apart.
Ohioans will soon turn their clocks back an hour for the end of daylight saving time, bringing earlier sunrises but also earlier sunsets.
Supporters of permanent DST want to eliminate that switch, but doing so would mean darker winter mornings and later sunrises, which proved fatal in certain states the last time the U.S tried permanent DST.
Why the permanent daylight saving time experiment failed
President Richard Nixon signed a law creating year-round daylight saving time in 1973 as a two-year experiment aimed at reducing energy consumption
during a fuel crisis.
The plan was initially popular, with support nearing 80% before it took effect in January 1974. But public opinion quickly soured as dark winter mornings raised safety concerns, particularly after reports of fatal crashes involving children traveling to school before sunrise. Eight children reportedly died in traffic accidents within the first two weeks of the permanent saving time experiment, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
Congress ended the experiment later that year, restoring standard time during the winter months.
Ohio never adopted permanent daylight saving time on its own, but state lawmakers have repeatedly considered legislation and resolutions related to year-round time changes.
Why clocks fall back so early in 2026
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, the earliest possible date for the annual time change.
Under federal regulations of the Uniform Time Act, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March every year and ends on the first Sunday in November. Because Nov. 1 falls on a Sunday in 2026, the annual clock change lands on the earliest date possible. The switch can happen any time from Nov. 1 through Nov. 7, depending on how the calendar falls.
What sunrise and sunset look like after the time change
After clocks fall back, Ohioans will see both the sunrise and sunset arrive about an hour earlier than the day before.
For most Ohioans, the first day back on standard time means a sunrise around 7 a.m. and a sunset between about 5:20 p.m. and 5:40 p.m., depending on your location.
Here's what Ohioans can expect on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, according to timeanddate.com:
- Akron: Sunrise at approximately 6:57 a.m.; sunset at approximately 5:21 p.m.
- Cincinnati: Sunrise at 7:05 a.m.; sunset at 5:37 p.m.
- Cleveland: Sunrise at 6:58 a.m.; sunset at 5:21 p.m.
- Columbus: Sunrise at 7:01 a.m.; sunset at 5:29 p.m.
- Dayton: Sunrise at approximately 7:05 a.m.; sunset at approximately 5:34 p.m.
- Toledo: Sunrise at approximately 7:06 a.m.; sunset at approximately 5:28 p.m.
Where the push for permanent DST stands now
If enacted, federal bill HR 139 would make daylight saving time permanent in most of the United States. Clocks would stay on daylight saving time year-round instead of "falling back" each November.
The bill currently sits in a Senate committee and has progressed to the chamber floor for a vote, a critical step in making permanent daylight saving time a federal law.
Permanent daylight saving time wouldn't add an extra hour of daylight. It would simply shift an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: US tried permanent daylight saving time once, and kids died
