WALLINGFORD — Daylight Saving Time signals the arrival of spring, and for drivers it can pose a danger on roads, warns AAA Northeast.

DST began at 2 am, Sunday, March 14. AAA reminds drivers that losing an hour of sleep could create morning drive challenges, said Fran Mayko, AAA Northeast spokeswoman.

“The time change brings greater risks in the form of concentration, attention, and decision-making,” Mayko said. “It also means a change of driving habits because when you snooze behind the wheel, you lose.”

In Connecticut, there have been more than 7,500 crashes with drivers experiencing fatigue or falling asleep at the wheel in the last five years, said Mayko.

Research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports drowsy driving is a factor in 10% of crashes nationwide, a figure traffic safety experts believe is under-reported.

As days become longer, more vulnerable users of the roadways — children, pedestrians, joggers, and bicyclists – also will most likely be outdoors, she added. That means motorists should:

*Be vigilant when backing out of driveways or in parking lots;

*Leave greater following distances between themselves and the cars in front of them, especially if driving into the sunrise or sunset; and

*Yield the right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks and don’t pass vehicles stopped at crosswalks.

What About Pedestrians?

On the other hand, pedestrians should:

*Only cross at intersections or crosswalks rather than jaywalk or cross between parked cars;

*Walk facing traffic on roadways without sidewalks;

*Carry a flashlight and wear reflective clothing at night; and

*Avoid walking in streets while texting. If a phone must be used, be sure to actively watch traffic and listen to hear approaching danger.

According to a report at Healthline.com, recent research out of the University of Colorado, Boulder, shows daylight saving time may put our health at even greater risk than previously thought.

In the week following the change to DST, fatal car accidents spike by nearly 6%, according to the new study published in the journal, Current Biology.

“Our study provides additional, rigorous evidence that the switch to daylight saving time in spring leads to negative health and safety impacts. These effects on fatal traffic accidents are real, and these deaths can be prevented,” the study’s senior author Céline Vetter, assistant professor of integrative physiology and director of the Circadian and Sleep Epidemiology Lab (CASEL) at UC Boulder, wrote in an e-mail statement.

The researchers looked at 732,835 car accidents recorded through the US Fatality Analysis Reporting System that took place between 1996 and 2017.

'Spring Forward' Crashes

The researchers discovered a consistent rise in fatal car crashes during the week we “spring forward.”

That increase spiked in 2007 when the Energy Policy Act switched the DST change to March from April, further solidifying the link between car crashes and daylight saving.

On average, the time change causes a 6% increase in fatal car accidents in the week following the spring DST transition, which amounts to about 28 additional deaths each year.

“Our findings are in line with more general research showing that the ‘mini jetlag’ caused by the one-hour loss due to DST is most severe in the first days after transition, and can be observed up to 2 weeks,” study co-author Josef Fritz, a postdoctoral fellow with CASEL, told Healthline.

The time switch is known to cause a range of detrimental health effects beyond car crashes.

“The sudden change in clock time can disrupt your sleep pattern, leading to a decrease in total sleep time and reduced sleep quality. This sleep disruption can reduce daytime alertness,” says Dr Kelly Carden, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.