Some Say It Would Be A Relief Not To 'Spring Forward' Every Year

NATICK, MA (CBS) – Most of us felt the dread after "springing forward" an hour this week.

"The mornings are hard, but we do it every year, so it's not that bad," said Natick parent Jordan Schmidt.

Changing our clocks back and forth each year could be a thing of the past. The U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act unanimously that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

"I would like it to be a one time zone type of thing, and I think that would be best," one Natick grandparent told WBZ-TV.

UMass Memorial psychology professor Dr. Anthony Rothschild agrees and said the biannual shift can have negative impacts on your health.

"If you mess with the circadian rhythms by artificially moving the clocks ahead, it can really interfere with the body's normal function," said Dr. Rothschild. "There's an increase in fatal car accidents, heart attacks, strokes."

Natick farmer Casey Townsend gets up every morning at 5:30 a.m. and depends on the daylight to tend to his animals and crops.

"Whether we're donning headlamps in the morning to go out and do that work or having the sunlight on our backs in the afternoon is a really nice thing, but we still have to get all of these different things done," said Townsend. "We just have to do it with a different light level."

While taking kids to the bus stop in the dark can be a pain, there is an upside.

"Well, they're going to be able to play outside longer."