{"id":243909,"date":"2026-03-30T21:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/243909\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:08:10","slug":"daylight-saving-time-led-to-more-sacramento-car-crashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/243909\/","title":{"rendered":"Daylight Saving Time led to more Sacramento car crashes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does springing forward in early March leave you feeling discombobulated during your commute?<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not alone. According to a study conducted around the Daylight Saving Time switch the morning of March 8, Sacramento was one of the top cities to see vehicle crash increases after the time change this year.<\/p>\n

The California capital was the second-highest in the state for week-over-week increases in car crashes from the week prior to Daylight Saving Time to the week following the switch, a study by Los Angeles-based Simmrin Law Group<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know.<\/p>\n

\"Westbound Westbound traffic on Interstate 80 slows down on the Yolo Causeway in 2019. Xavier Mascare\u00f1as Sacramento Bee file photo Did Sacramento drivers crash more after Daylight Saving Time?<\/p>\n

The law firm\u2019s study showed Sacramento drivers had the fourth-highest increase in crashes after Daylight Saving Time in early March.<\/p>\n

Using data from U.S. Crime Radar dispatch logs, the study found Sacramento had a roughly 34% rise in car wrecks in the week after the time switch. Between March 1-7, the capital city had 76 reported crash incidents on dispatch logs, which rose to 102 crashes from March 8-14.<\/p>\n

Sacramento was not the only California city on the list, with another Northern California city topping the list for percentage increase in car crashes. San Francisco had the highest percentage increase in car crashes following the time switch, according to the study.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the March 8 Daylight Saving Time switch, the city had 30 car crash dispatch incidents reported on U.S. Crime Radar, and it jumped to 114 incidents the following week. That marks a sharp increase of 280% week-over-week.<\/p>\n

Though the Simmrin Law Group analyzed dispatch data, it did not take into account any weather, local events or other \u201cexternal variables\u201d into its study. Neither Sacramento nor San Francisco experienced rainy days in the week following Daylight Saving Time, according to the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n

\"Traffic Traffic crawls on an eastbound ramp to Highway 50 in East Sacramento on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com Which cities\u2019 drivers were the worst after Daylight Saving Time?<\/p>\n

These were the top 10 cities whose reported car crash incidents rose after the time switch, according to Simmrin Law Group:<\/p>\n

San Francisco – 280% increaseIndianapolis – 182.8% increaseOmaha, Nebraska – 47.1% increaseSacramento – 34.2% increaseMinneapolis – 32% increaseDenver – 26.7% increaseSeattle – 24% increaseOakland – 22.1% increaseDetroit – 18.3% increasePortland, Oregon – 18.2% increaseHow can you stay safe while driving after the time switch?<\/p>\n

For future post-Daylight Saving Time mornings, the Auto Club of Southern California \u2014 affiliated with AAA \u2014 shared safety tips for both pedestrians and drivers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pedestrians should ensure drivers see them before crossing the street.Consider wearing bright or reflective clothes or carrying a flashlight when walking at night.Walk on the sidewalk, or facing traffic if sidewalks are not available.Drivers should prioritize getting enough sleep before driving.Try to drive during hours you would normally be awake otherwise.Do not eat heavy foods before driving.Avoid driving on medications that cause drowsiness.<\/p>\n

Loading\u2026<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Camila Pedrosa<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Camila Pedrosa is a service journalism reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked as a summer reporting intern for The Bee and reported in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. She graduated from Arizona State University with a master\u2019s degree in mass communication.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Does springing forward in early March leave you feeling discombobulated during your commute? You\u2019re not alone. According to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[109331,109328,109332,121,109329,123,122,109330],"class_list":["post-243909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-daylight-saving-time-driving-safety-tips","tag-do-drivers-crash-more-often-after-daylight-saving-time","tag-i-feel-sleepy-while-driving-after-daylight-saving-time","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-car-crash-statistics","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-san-francisco-car-crash-statistics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}