The current March to November system that the US follows began in 2007, but the concept of "saving daylight" is much older. Daylight saving time has its roots in train schedules, but it was put into practice in Europe and the United States to save fuel and power during World War I, according to the US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
On Sunday, October 26, clocks will again "fall back" one hour, ending Central European Summer Time (CEST), after having "sprung forward" an hour in March. What is daylight savings time (DST) and why is it used? Around 35% of countries currently adhere to the daylight savings time system, which was first instituted on a national level in 1916 in the German and the Austro-Hungarian Empires. DST saw broad international implementation in the 1970s as a means of saving energy after the oil crisis.
The spring transition appears to be a perfect storm of fatigue, impaired alertness, and risky driving conditions, with a 6% spike in fatal crashes.
