By: Larissa Horton

Line O’ Type News Editor

SB0533, the bill proposing permanent Daylight Savings Time in Illinois, is currently making its way through the state legislature. Filed by Bunker Hill Democrat Andy Manar, the bill was inspired by a civics project from a group of Carlinville High School students. Advocates, such as the Carlinville students, for the time standardization Illinois is attempting to adopt are bolstered by a study by the University of Colorado Boulder that shows a 6% increase in fatal car crashes in the week after the change to Daylight Savings Time. The study estimates as well that approximately “28 fatal accidents could be prevented yearly if the DST transition was abolished.” There is contention as to whether Standard Time or Daylight Savings Time should become the default, but it seems there is an influential belief that the current time system is not working for many people.

Illinois’ measure has passed the state Senate, but the House has yet to approve. Even if it is approved by the House, however, the Uniform Time Act of 1966 means that the law will have to go through Congress as well before it can take effect. Many other states are in line for approval as well, including Colorado, Delaware, Georgia,  Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Vermont, per ABC News. Currently, Hawaii and Arizona, with the exception of the Navajo Nation, are the only US states that do not observe any regular time changes. Both have instead chosen to function on Standard Time year-round.