Beware of glare it can kill

The effect of the sun glare is to wash out the image on the retina with a bright, overwhelming dominant spot or pattern so that we cannot see what is actually around us, including dangerous ...

Early on a beautiful, crystal clear spring morning, a truck driver was driving east on a city street as he began his daily trip. All of a sudden, the driver heard a thump on the right side of his vehicle. The driver immediately looked in his right side mirror and saw someone lying on the ground. The person on the ground was an elderly woman who had been hit and killed by his truck while she was attempting to cross the street, The truck driver never saw her. A collision investigation determined that glare from the sun had temporarily impaired the driver’s vision so that he could not see the pedestrian. The hazard which led to the above collision was GLARE from the bright sunshine. Webster’s dictionary defines glare as “a very harsh, bright dazzling light” (noun) and “ to shine with or reflect a very harsh, bright dazzling light” (verb). In everyday language, sun glare is often described with multiple terms, such as “sun blindness,” “disability glare,” “veiling (concealing) glare” or “sun dazzle”. Whatever it is called, glare hurts the eyes and also masks critical vision.

The effect of the sun glare is to wash out the image on the retina with a bright, overwhelming dominant spot or pattern so that we cannot see what is actually around us, including dangerous situations. Glare is reported as the “official” cause in only small fraction (less than one percent) of fatal crashes across the nation each year, according to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, the statistics on glare-related crashes are misleading, because most local police and state highway patrol departments do not list “glare” as a category for investigating officers to check as a causation factor in a crash. For, example, according to the California Highway Patrol, highway collisions caused by a sun glare may be hidden in a category like “driving in speeds in excess of safety” Most drivers do not realize that glare can be even more dangerous than the much more publicized hazard of driving in fog. Fog and glare both impair a driver’s vision, but most drivers will slow down when driving in fog but drive at normal speeds when glare is present, simply because it is a nice clear day and they don’t recognize glare as being a dangerous driving hazard. Since 90 percent or more of the information we receive for making driving decisions is visual, anything, including glare, that interferes with receiving that information clearly and completely must be eliminated.

If glare obstructs or impairs vision for even a few seconds, critical driver decision making information is lost or severely distorted. If glare impaired your vision for just five seconds while you are driving at highway speeds, you can be traveling blind for a distance equal to one and half football fields! Sun glare can be a dangerous driving hazard year-round. It is an especially serious problem during the early spring and autumn. During these seasons, the sun is low in the horizon during the typical height of rush hour traffic shortly after sunrise and before sunset. Because the sun rises and sets exactly due east and west in the weeks before and after the official start of spring on March 20 and autumn on September 21, driving on east-west roads presents the greatest glare hazard at these present times. Since many cities are laid out in a grid pattern with streets running north and south and east to west, a large number of commuters are driving directly into the sunlight during both the morning and evening rush hours. Glare-indicated “blindness: can also be prevalent during the winter months, due to the lower elevation of the sun in the sky and the extremely reflective qualities of snow and once on the ground. Because snow is so reflective, up to 85 percent of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation can be transmitted upward, with much of it directed toward a driver’s line of vision, according to the Vision Council of America (VCA). The sun does not have to be directly in your eyes to cause a glare problem. You can also be visually impaired indirectly any time of the day by something referred to as “veiling (concealing) glare.” These are reflections off the windshield.

You may be able to see through the windshield but not very clearly. Dirt and film on the windshield can greatly worsen the problem of glare, according to the Automobile Association of America. When illuminated by sunlight, every streak, smudge and dust particle can become magnified, so the only thing that can be seen is the windshield grime instead of the road. Glare is also created when sunlight is reflected off of another vehicle, the roadway or any reflective surface, inside and outside of your vehicle. For instance, light colored dashboards worsen the problem of glare because they are more reflective than dark-colored dashboards. To illustrate the difference, try putting a black felt cloth on top of a light-colored dashboard during a bright sunlit day and make a note of what you are able to see clearly, Then remove the black cloth and notice the difference in what you cannot see clearly due to the reflective glare. Similarly, paper, maps, napkins, etc. on a dashboard can also cause glare and reflections on the windshield which can impair your vision. Additional reflective glare from your dashboard is created by using popular vinyl cleaners that give your dashboard a high gloss finish, The dashboard may look great, but these cleaners will turn your dashboard into a mirror. The eyesight of the driver is another significantly important factor contributing to the glare hazard. Regular comprehensive eye exams can help ensure optimum vision for driving. However, as we age, our eyes become more susceptible to glare and require a longer period of time to recover from exposure to glare. The VCA recommends using 100 percent polarized and anti-reflective lenses are particularly good for protecting the eyes from sun glare year-round. Polarized lenses deflect and diffuse glare to help you see clearly through vehicle windows during bright sunlight, snow, rain and sometimes bright fog. The filtering process eliminates 99 percent of the reflected glare. The VCA says the lenses in sunglasses should be gray, green, brown and the larger lenses, the better. Contact lens wearers can get lenses that filter out a lot of the UV radiation. While these lenses should not be used in place of sunglasses they do help screen out light that comes in around the top and sides of sunglasses. The VCA says the best sunglasses are those purchased from an optician. This ensures they have the appropriate amount of UV radiation filtering and are the best protection for your eyes. The VCA warns that too much unprotected exposure to UV radiation can cause “photokeratitis,” a temporary sunburn of the eye that makes the eyes hurt, tearful and more sensitive to light. Long periods of UV exposure can permanently damage the eye and greatly increase the chances of cataracts and damage to the retina. All of these eye conditions have a negative impact on one's ability to see clearly in order to drive safely. It is extremely important for professional drivers to have regular vision exams, at least annually, conducted by qualified eye care professionals who can assist them in the selection of appropriate visually corrective and glare protective eyewear.