Daylight saving time can heavily impact sleep, with the American Association for Sleep Medicine finding that 55% of those in the U.S. say they feel tired after the switch. (Credit: metamorworks/Adobe Stock)

The switch to daylight saving time happens on Sunday, March 9, but along with the extra evening sunshine comes extra roadway risk.

According to a study from Current Biology, fatal traffic accidents increase by 6% during the spring daylight saving transition — a loss of about 28 more lives than on an average day. In the week after the time change, risk compounds in the morning when it may be darker than usual for people when commuting, while the risk lessens in the afternoon and evening since it stays light longer. The study also found that those in locations further west were more heavily affected by the time change.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Brittney Meredith-Miller

Brittney Meredith-Miller is assistant editor of PropertyCasualty360.com. She can be reached at [email protected].

Personal Lines
Auto
Personal Lines