Georgians getting ready to fall back, despite state’s permanent daylight saving time law

ATLANTA — Last year, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill into law for the state to permanently stay on daylight saving time.

Despite that, Georgians are getting ready to move their clocks back an hour as daylight saving time comes to a close over the weekend.

Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach learned that, even though Kemp signed the bill, it requires an act of Congress to allow the states to observe daylight saving time year-round.

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Michael Bowers fixes clocks and watches at his shop on Cheshire Bridge Rd. in northeast Atlanta. He told Gehlbach that he is all for operating on daylight saving time all year long.

“I’d be for it, I would. [It’s] silly in my opinion not to do it,” Bowers said.

He told Gehlbach that he won’t go through changing all of the clocks in his shop, but he’s expecting several calls on Monday morning. He says some antique clocks can be harmed while falling back.

“If the clock’s old enough, it doesn’t allow you to set it backwards. Modern clocks do,” Bowers explained.

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The lawmaker who pushed for the bill to be signed last year says he believes that operating on daylight saving time year-round would reduce car accidents and possibly reduce crime.

“We’re already in daylight saving time eight months out of the year, so the easier adjustment is to stay in daylight saving time,” said State Representative Wes Cantrell, who represents Cherokee County.

Some say they want time to stay the same just so they don’t have to bother with changing their clocks.

“We’ve done it for 50 years, changing time back and forth. I think most people are ready to have one time year-round,” X said.

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Time officially changes overnight Sunday morning, so make sure to set your clocks back an hour before going to bed Saturday night.

Daylight saving time: What you need to know Benjamin Franklin was the first to propose the concept of daylight saving time in 1784. (NCD)

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