Clocks switched back to Pacific Standard Time early Sunday morning, and we may really need that extra hour of sleep to make sure we're fully awake when we head out the door.

At least two researchers linked the time switch to a big increase in pedestrian deaths.

Now that the clocks have gone back, streets will get dark earlier -- sunsets are now just before 5 o'clock -- but routines will stay the same.

"Everybody's on the clock," said Jimmy King, an avid walker. "They got to get home. They got to get to work, and they're in a rush."

Drivers end up hitting pedestrians three times as often in the weeks after the time changes. Researchers say it's not the darkness, but the adjustments drivers have to suddenly make that keeps them from spotting pedestrians.

"They just pop out of nowhere, just kind of a blind spot," said driver Anh Tran. "They come around you and you don't see them."

One woman who walks just about everywhere says she keeps it simple.

"I just follow the lights, and look a little," said Beckie Lindley, who walks daily.

She says problems come up when people cross streets when they shouldn't.

But it's not just dark streets. Bad weather compounds the problems -- especially in the Northwest since the weather is typically stormy in November.

"The State Patrol reported with that last storm we had about a month ago, (there was a) 62-percent increase in all collisions, so that's pretty significant already," said Meghan Soptich with the Department of Transportation.

Despite the risks, the time switch does have a bright side.

"Now if you're driving home and it's a little bit darker, you're not going to see them quite as well. Maybe in the morning you're going to notice people you never noticed before because it's going to be lighter when you're heading to work at 7:30."

The clock change in the spring brings the reverse -- actually fewer overall traffic accidents involving pedestrians.

People have pitched the idea of year-round daylight saving. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that could save 200 lives every year.