The US House of Representatives has passed the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill aimed at ending the twice-yearly ritual of changing clocks by making daylight saving time permanent across the country. The move addresses long-standing public frustration with the biannual clock changes, which research has linked to disrupted sleep patterns and even short-term spikes in traffic accidents and health problems.

The legislation would eliminate the need to switch between standard time and daylight saving time each spring and autumn, though it still needs to clear further legislative hurdles before becoming law, including Senate approval and a presidential signature. The debate over the length of daylight highlights the scale of what's at stake seasonally, with Washington, D.C. seeing as much as 14 hours and 57 minutes of daylight in June.