Indiana will once again move to Standard Time with most of the country this weekend.
Officially, at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, November 4, clocks will be turned back one hour to 1:00 a.m. The turning back of the clocks comes one week later than usual, thanks to an act of Congress.
New Indiana Time Zone Map - Indiana's time zones change once again on Sunday, November 4th, as we move from daylight saving time to standard time. The Indiana Chamber has created a new map to reflect the new time zones.
Learn about how the time change affects computers and other electronic devices
Links to software patches
History of Daylight Saving Time in Indiana:
- Until last spring, under state law, most of Indiana had ignored Daylight Saving Time since the early 1970s. Seventy-seven counties observed Eastern Time but didn't change clocks. Five were on Eastern time and unofficially observed Daylight Saving Time, and ten were on Central Time, observing Daylight Saving Time.
- Governor Mitch Daniels pushed the Daylight Saving Time switch, saying it would end the confusion and promote commerce. Lawmakers passed the measure by a single vote in an emotional debate.
- Eighteen counties asked the US Department of Transportation to put them in the Central Time Zone to be aligned with Chicago. The federal government granted the requests for eight counties, which put 18 counties on Central Time and 74 on Eastern.
One of the main reasons for implementing Daylight Saving Time is energy conservation. Since we'll have sunlight one hour later, yet we'll still go to bed at the same time, we save energy.
Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that the entire country's electricity usage was trimmed by about one percent each day with Daylight Saving Time.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over Daylight Saving Time in the U.S., studied the results of an experiment. It concluded:
- Daylight Saving Time saves energy. Based on consumption figures for 1974 and 1975, The Department of Transportation says observing Daylight Saving Time in March and April saved the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day, a total of 600,000 barrels in each of those two years.
- Daylight Saving Time saves lives and prevents traffic injuries. The earlier Daylight Saving Time allowed more people to travel home from work and school in daylight, which is much safer than darkness. And except for the months of November through February, Daylight Saving Time does not increase the morning hazard for those going to school and work.
- Daylight Saving Time prevents crime because people get home from work and school and complete more errands and chores in daylight. Daylight Saving Time also seems to reduce people's exposure to various crimes, which are more common in darkness than in light.
An old saying to help you remember how to change your clocks is, "spring forward, fall back."
