Lucky we live Hawaii, where Daylight Saving Time isn't observed

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - On Sunday, most Americans lost sleep — on purpose.

The "spring forward" part of Daylight Saving Time kicked in Sunday morning.

Suddenly, in places where it was 2 a.m., it was 3 a.m. instead.

The twice annual tradition becomes a point of contention, frustration and bewilderment for Americans just about every year.

And that's become more true as more studies question the actual utility of springing forward and falling back.

But in Hawaii, we're — thankfully — immune from this re-setting of the clocks.

Hawaii has never observed Daylight Saving Time, and we are not about to start.

Why is Hawaii exempt?

The short answer: The state Legislature back in 1967 said Hawaii had no reason to disrupt its schedules to account for changes in daylight. Hawaii's position close to the equator means that we get enough sunlight throughout the day, regardless of the time of year.

Back then, only Hawaii opted out of the Daylight Saving Time portion of the Uniform Time Act. A year later, Arizona joined the islands in shunning Daylight Saving Time, which was started in large part to save on electricity costs.

Incidentally, Daylight Saving Time also isn't observed in Puerto Rico, Guam or American Samoa.

But while Hawaii doesn't lose or gain an hour depending on the time of year, it doesn't mean the switch doesn't affect islanders.

When we make calls to the mainland, we've got to adjust our math:

• Eastern Time is now six hours ahead of Hawaii;
• Central Time is five hours ahead;
• Mountain Time is four hours ahead;
• and Pacific Time is three.

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