You may want to consider going to bed at a reasonable hour Saturday night (March 12).
As hard as it is to believe, we're now at that point in the year where B.C. residents will lose a whole hour of sleep for daylight saving time.
Clocks in the Pacific zone are set to move forward by one hour at 2 a.m. early Sunday morning (March 13).
It's also an early welcome for spring as it will remain dark outside later in the morning, but evenings will be brighter for longer.
Everywhere in B.C. will follow the time change, except for the Peace and east Kootenay regions.
Most residents in the province are in favour of a move to permanent daylight saving time, according to the results of a 2019 public engagement survey of nearly 225,000 respondents.
The B.C. government then passed legislation that grants the province the power to stop seasonal time changes.
Last year, Premier John Horgan said the province was delaying moving forward with the changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the province has said it doesn’t plan on moving to year-round daylight saving time until the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon and California make the switch – a move that requires approval of U.S. Congress.
According to ICBC, 37 people died from a fatal collisions in the Lower Mainland in the month of March between 2016 and 2020.
This includes 16 drivers and 12 pedestrians.
March is also distracted driving awareness month and RCMP say an average of 76 people die each year from motor vehicle collisions across B.C. when the driver was not paying attention to the road.
It all starts with you,
says BC Highway Patrol (BCHP) Chief Superintendent Holly Turton.
Ask yourself if it is worth your life or someone else’s to answer a call, check your email or send that text while you are driving. Please make the right choice when you drive – ignore your phone and drive responsibly. Your life may depend on it – and others may be depending on you to get to your destination safely.
Distracted driving fines start at $368 and four points against a license, Turton adds.
