WASHINGTON — Advocates of more daylight-saving time have a new
weapon to support their cause: a study showing it saves lives.
In announcing support of new legislation mandating its
extension, the Daylight Saving Time Coalition cited a recent
study showing that nearly 200 lives could be saved annually by
yearlong daylight-saving time. The study was conducted by the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. But James Benfield,
director of the Daylight Saving Time Coalition, emphasized that
his group does not seek year-round daylight-saving time. "We
feel that the third Sunday in March to the first Sunday in
November is ideal," he said. Most of the nation will move clocks
forward one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday. Daylight time will remain in
effect until the last Sunday in October when standard time
resumes. The study showed that over a five-year period, there
was an increase of 91 pedestrian traffic fatalities during the
afternoons of the first week of standard time. At the same time,
there was a decline of 50 pedestria