As Congress considers legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent, the proposal has renewed discussion about how darker winter mornings and brighter evenings could affect drivers.
Regardless of whether the measure advances, Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said motorists should remain vigilant during their commutes because the busiest times on the road consistently see the highest number of serious crashes.
"We have clear patterns of risky times to drive, and that's basically to and from work," Budensiek said. "In the morning, between 6:30 and 8:30, we have a high volume of crashes, a lot of serious crashes, and then in the evening between 4:30 and 6:30, the same thing applies."
While those time periods see the highest number of crashes, Budensiek said traffic volume appears to play a larger role than the amount of daylight.
"I don't see a correlation with it being dark necessarily, but we certainly see a correlation with the high traffic on the roadways, people moving into the county, through our county. There's a lot going on during those peak hours," he s
Although darkness may not significantly affect vehicle crashes, Budensiek said it can make it harder for drivers to spot people outside their vehicles.
"You know, nighttime, obviously the visibility is lower, coupled with more traffic on the road, coupled with people are distracted," he said. "As much as I hate to say it, they're watching the morning news, they're looking at Facebook, they're doing things that they ought not be doing, and it does create a risk."
School buses are generally easy to see because of their lighting, he said, but children walking to bus stops remain vulnerable.
"Our school buses that are moving through the county, thankfully they're well lit, so they may actually be more noticeable in darker light than they are in the daytime," Budensiek said. "But that still doesn't protect our kids, our youth that are standing at the bus stops, at stop signs, at the corners of sometimes major intersections waiting on the bus, and they got to commute to that location. Some of them don't get dropped off by their parents."
Budensiek said the safest approach for drivers is the same regardless of the time of day: obey traffic laws and stay focused.
"They need to go fast enough to go the speed limit," he said. "One of the large problems we're having right now, kind of surprisingly, is people on these two-lane highways are going 10 miles an hour under the speed limit, which is getting other people that are trying to go to work and go the speed limit to pass them on two-lane highways. It's become a disaster."
He said the issue is particularly noticeable on roads including Bridge Road and in Palm City.
Budensiek also urged motorists to avoid driving if they are uncomfortable driving in the dark and to eliminate distractions behind the wheel.
"If you're not capable of driving in the dark, then you need to find another means of transportation. You really shouldn't be out there on the road," he said. "You need to not drive distracted, and with the amount of traffic that we have on the roadways nowadays, it's just a recipe for disaster if you're not paying attention. So if you're going to drive in the wee hours, or any time, you need to focus on driving."