Some New Yorkers Say It's Time To Rethink Daylight Saving Time

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's that time of year again – a week from Sunday, it's time to change the clock back from Daylight Saving Time to Eastern Standard Time.

It is a twice yearly ritual of changing times, and as CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, some want to rethink it.

The cycle of spring forward, fall back can throw off your circadian rhythms. As Morton Dagawitz of the Upper West Side put it, it can leave people feeling "very weird, that's all, and I have no idea why."

Setting clocks back an hour on Nov. 5 can also increase risk on the roads.

That is why the city is stepping up enforcement and education as the time change approaches – as part of the Vision Zero effort to reduce traffic deaths and injuries.

"Early onset of darkness in the fall and winter months is highly correlated with an increase in traffic injuries and fatalities," said NYPD Chief Thomas Chan.

When Daylight Saving Time ends, Manhattan will see the sun set over New Jersey as early as 4:38 p.m. during the first week of December. It's kind of depressing for many.

"It feels like 9 o'clock at night! And then you get tired!" said Jason Anthony of the Upper West Side.

"It totally throws me off! I feel like everyone is thrown off, everyone is tired earlier, grumpy earlier, hungry earlier," said Amanda Petersen of the Upper West Side. "Not a fan."

When asked if he could see any reason to keep Daylight Saving Time, Joseph Licata said, "Personally myself - no."

In Massachusetts, a special commission is looking at options – including having the state leave the Eastern Time Zone and move an hour ahead into the Atlantic Time Zone.

But there is a strong feeling about it Massachusetts.

"It sounds great if every state was on board, but one state can't do it without everybody else," one woman told WBZ-TV, CBS4 in Boston.

So far, similar proposals in neighboring Maine and New Hampshire have failed.

In New York state, a bill to end Daylight Saving Time is perpetually stuck in committee.

Meanwhile, surveys show Americans are increasingly ticked off at Daylight Saving Time. Only 33 percent think it serves a purpose, down from 47 percent five years ago.