{"id":313453,"date":"2025-11-23T10:23:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T10:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/uncategorized\/when-the-clocks-fall-back-what-that-extra-hour-of-sleep-can-cost-you-personal-injury-lawyers\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T10:23:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T10:23:37","slug":"when-the-clocks-fall-back-what-that-extra-hour-of-sleep-can-cost-you-personal-injury-lawyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=313453","title":{"rendered":"When The Clocks Fall Back \u2014 What That \u201cExtra Hour\u201d Of Sleep Can Cost You \u2014 Personal Injury Lawyers"},"content":{"rendered":"


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On my evening walk one day last week, I was surprised to see that the streetlights in our neighbourhood were on before I reached my house. The sky had shifted from light to dusk more rapidly than I anticipated.<\/p>\n

It made me pause \u2014 and consider a pattern I often see in my legal practice: when the clocks \u201cfall back,\u201d the risk of serious traffic accidents and injuries rises, especially for pedestrians, cyclists, and anyone who shares the road.<\/p>\n

The invisible hazard of earlier darkness<\/h3>\n

In the fall, it is easy to welcome the \u201cextra hour\u201d of sleep we get by turning back the clock. But that extra hour of light in the morning comes at the expense of our evening visibility \u2014 when traffic is heavy with people driving home from work, children walking home from school, cyclists finishing a commute, and older folks doing errands.<\/p>\n

The darkness sets in faster than any of us expect. Studies across jurisdictions show a measurable uptick in pedestrian\/vehicle collisions in the weeks after the time change. Some studies also point to a higher incidence of deaths following the time change, which are due to other causes, such as heart attacks.<\/p>\n

From a legal standpoint, the shift in daylight is a significant consideration. In Ontario, drivers must anticipate changing conditions \u2014 including reduced visibility \u2014 and adjust their behaviour accordingly. That means slower speeds where appropriate, full attention, properly functioning headlights, clearing of frost or fog from windows, and being especially vigilant in residential zones or near schools.<\/p>\n

When a driver\u2019s failure to adapt to the earlier onset of darkness results in an injury, that failure can become a key element in a negligence claim.<\/p>\n

What I observe on the ground<\/h3>\n

As someone who walks regularly, here\u2019s what I\u2019ve spotted recently, just ahead of the official time change:<\/p>\n