Traffic Dangers Increase When Daylight Saving Time Ends

By Yehudit Garmaise

While New Yorkers can be grateful for one more hour of sleep on Sunday after turning their clocks back one hour, pedestrians should remain aware that data shows that when the clocks fall back, the crashes go up.

As the sun starts to descend earlier and earlier this time of year, reckless drivers and drivers with impaired vision in the darkness are more likely to hit pedestrians, many of whom are younger New Yorkers, who walk, bike, and scoot outside after dusk.

To better protect New Yorkers from the increased traffic fatalities that often occur after the end of Daylight Saving Time, on Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams will kick off this year’s “Dusk and Darkness” public safety campaign on Sunday. 

In addition to reminding drivers to slow down and for pedestrians to remain careful and aware of their surroundings, the NYPD will also increase enforcement of dangerous moving violations as the sun goes down, through rush hour, and overnight.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe on our streets,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi.  “The end of daylight saving is the most dangerous time for pedestrians and drivers.

The efforts of the mayor, who has long wanted to get the message that dangerous behavior on the street has “life-or-death consequences,” so far have proven effective in reducing reckless driving and its resulting fatalities in 2023.

So far this year, the city tracked the lowest number of pedestrian deaths on record.  

“One death on our streets is still one too many,” said Mayor Adams. “We’re taking action across our city to prevent traffic violence, and that’s why we’re on track to hit a historic low for pedestrian fatalities on our streets.”