Did Daylight Savings Time Actually Cause More Car Crashes in MN?

Maybe Daylight Savings Time does have an effect on our driving. Over the weekend 17 different crashes happened in our state, two of which were fatal.

There have been studies done that show your risk of getting in a car accident is significantly higher the day after daylight savings time, and in Minnesota we had a total of four accidents that happened on that Sunday. But we also had a lot of crashes leading up to that day. There seems to be a tendency to blame it on the fact that we "lose" an hour of sleep making us tired and less alert when behind the wheel, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Daylight Savings Time isn't a "surprise", we know when it is going to happen and we should prepare for it. Go to bed earlier, wake yourself up earlier to be sure you are alert when driving where you need to go. The clocks change twice a year, and it is listed on every calendar I have ever seen. Be responsible for your actions, if you are too tired to drive, then don't. Don't bring harm on to yourself or someone else and then blame it on Daylight Savings Time.

See a list of this weekends car crash reports in Minnesota here.