Time change in the US: Daylight saving time starts with Americans springing their clocks forward

This Sunday, March 10, the clocks will spring forward one hour in the United States when daylight saving time starts.

The time change adapts schedules for the summer. This change begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

On Sunday, at 2:00 am, clocks will spring forward one hour to 3:00 a.m. This modified schedule will be in effect until the first weekend in November (in 2024 clocks will “fall back” one hour one Sunday, November 3).

The change has been in effect since 2007 in most of the United States. However, states are not required by law to follow daylight saving time, so Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa do not observe the change.

Initiatives to maintain Daylight Saving Time

Meanwhile, Congress is making plans to make daylight saving time permanent across the country. In March 2022, the Senate approved a bill that now has to pass through the House of Representatives and get the president’s approval. The proposal is called the Sunshine Protection Act and was introduced by Senator Marco Rubio. It is believed that the permanent time change would help reduce crime, car accidents and encourage children to play outside. Rubio recently stated that he believes the current practice is "outdated."

Initially, the concept was proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, but it wasn’t implemented until World War I. At that time, it was supposed to be a temporary measure to save energy by extending daylight hours.