Daylight savings time, as you know, happens this weekend, three weeks early than in the past. Turn those clocks ahead. Certainly, this time change will have an affect on the morning and afternoon commutes. Mornings could experience more delays, afternoons less.

In the morning the sun will rise one hour later, which means you will be driving in the dark until around 7 AM or so. That puts sunrise at the peak of the morning rush, which could have a significant impact on increasing delays during the morning, especially as people tend to rise a bit later as well. The combination of the two means more people driving during the later part of the rush, at a time when the solar glare will have its greatest effect.

It’s generally better news for the afternoon commute. The sun will set after 6:40 PM, so drivers will have an extra hour of light for their ride home. Right now, before the time change, the solar glare issues are felt at the peak of the afternoon rush. After the time change, the impact will be lessened in that it will hit its peak when rush hour volume is on the decline. It will still cause delays, but will affect fewer people.

As always, keep your windshields clean, inside and out, and bring those sunglasses!