August 30, 2016

How to Avoid a Car Crash when Driving in the Sun

By Jonathan Damashek

Posted in Auto Accidents

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Every driver suffers “sun glare”, that moment when you are driving and suddenly cannot see a thing because the sun is at the perfect apex to cause momentary blindness. Unfortunately, sun glare can cause accidents, sometimes ones with terrible injuries and fatalities.

In an effort to help you avoid a crash, we want to share several tips listed by osceolagarage.com that will help protect you and your family:

  1. Use your car’s visor whenever possible, and lower and adjust it as needed. It won’t make the road more visible, but it can help keep the sun directly out of your eyes.
  2. Use sunglasses with polarized lenses. Polarized glasses are designed to cut through the sun’s glare and diminish its intensity. It’s best to put the glasses on your head before your start driving or within convenient reach, not in your purse or glove box.
  3. Keep your dashboard clean. Don’t store clutter or papers on your dashboard and avoid any cleaners that give your dash a high-gloss finish. The polishes look great, but they turn your dash into a mirror and create a “veiling glare” and obscure your view.
  4. Clean your windshield. Dirt and haze on your windshield builds up over time, and can make sun glare worse further obstructing your view. Clean the inside and outside with a quality glass cleaner and check for any chips and cracks in your windshield.
  5. Increase your following distance. If you can’t see due to sun glare, chances are, neither can the car in front of you. Leave more space between cars and slow down.
  6. Reduce your speed to reflect the fact that visibility is compromised. Slow down enough to compensate for reduced visibility.
  7. Use Headlights. Turning on your headlights help your car become more visible for opposing traffic and help the drivers behind you see you more clearly. Some highways mandate headlight use to lower the risk of accidents from sun glare. Before you get on the road, make sure all of your car’s lights are working properly.
  8. Change your driving route. If possible, use north-south streets until you find an east-west road with lots of trees or taller buildings.
  9. Be aware: Sun glare isn’t just a dangerous problem in your windshield, if the sun is at your back, sunlight bounces off the reflectors of the traffic lights ahead, causing them to have the same brightness and making it harder to tell which color light is active.

You cannot control the sun, but you can make smarter decisions while driving to keep your loved ones safe.

If you or a family member is a victim of a car crash, contact us immediately for a free consultation.