Articles: Sun Glare
Sun Glare Casts a Deadly Light
John Valenti, Newsday.com February 2, 2003
Sun Glare Casts a Deadly Light
A senior citizen, out for a drive with his wife. Killed, when a beverage truck runs
through a red light and collides with their car in Glen Cove.
A 16-year-old girl, her learner's permit just a few weeks old, driving to
church with her mother and little sister. Killed, when a flatbed
tractor-trailer runs a red light and crushes their car at the intersection of
Osborn Avenue and Route 58 in Riverhead.
An 80-year-old man out for a 6 a.m. walk after making his wife a cup of tea.
Killed. Struck by a car while crossing Merrick Road in Baldwin.
Each killed in an accident whose main contributing factor, authorities said, is
one most of us rarely - if ever - consider a real danger: Sun glare.
It is a road hazard we often give little thought to because it isn't rain,
isn't snow, isn't fog. Isn't dark of night. Because it doesn't result in a
flooded, ice-covered or fog-shrouded road. Nor is it a road so dark we can't
see beyond the reach of our headlights.
It doesn't seem like a problem, but rather a mere annoyance. So we pull down
the front-windshield visor, we shade our eyes with our hands. We squint. And we
continue driving. At the same speed. In the same manner. With the same conviction.
Unaware of just how dangerous - and unforgiving - the condition of sun glare
can be.
Experts call it being "blinded by the light." It calls to mind a line
from an old song that goes: "I couldn't see the sun because the sun was in
my eyes."
"It's a definite problem," AAA Auto Club of New York traffic safety
specialist Frank Niland said. "I would say that most drivers don't give
glare the degree of risk they should. They're much more attentive to a road
condition like rain. Or snow. They just don't assume that sun glare is a
problem."
The statistics, however, indicate otherwise.
Two killed, 244 injured in Nassau County in 2001. Two killed, 200 injured in
Suffolk. Twelve deaths - and 2,069 injuries - statewide in the same year,
according to statistics provided by the New York State Department of Motor
Vehicles. Another 1,559 accidents that resulted in property damage.
All because of sun glare.
The woman who struck and killed Baij Nath Sharma, 80, as he crossed Merrick
Road last August, told police she had a green light but never saw Sharma, who
apparently was crossing against the light. He was hidden in the light of the
rising sun.
The driver of the truck that struck and killed Brieanne Reichel in November
told police he never saw the traffic light as he traveled west on Route 58
around 4 p.m. It also was hidden by the sun.
The driver of the beverage truck in the collision that killed Donald Groth, 81,
of Bayville, told police he never saw the light at Forest Avenue and Phillips
Road as he drove west through Glen Cove around 4 p.m. on Jan. 14. As Nassau
Second Squad Det. Sgt. John MacEwen then said: "Because of the glare, [he]
didn't see the red traffic light facing him."
"The glare was so bad," Kevin Killeen, 45, of Centre Island, who
witnessed the accident scene, said, "that if you were looking west you
couldn't even see the lights of the emergency vehicles. Visibility of the
traffic light color was a '0' on a scale of 1-to-10."
None of the drivers in these incidents was charged, according to police.
Because of sun glare, these were considered accidents. Red lights and all.
Still, these are incidents the rest of us can learn from. Because, there are
several things we can do to reduce the risk of accidents caused by glare.
Especially, at this time of year on Long Island when the angle of the winter
sun - and our often crisp, clear, cloudless blue skies - make that glare even
worse.
One of the most significant things we can do, experts agree, is invest in
polarized sunglasses. "We take our sunglasses to the beach with us,"
Niland said. "But we seldom ever think, 'There is an awful lot of sun
glare, let me take my sunglasses.'"
Another piece of good advice is to slow down in conditions of glare. To not
drive faster than the conditions require. A driver who cannot determine the
color of a traffic light should not be driving through it - especially at the
normal, posted speed. That driver should at the very least slow - or, if the
color cannot be determined a reasonable distance from the intersection, stop -
until it is certain that the light is green. And drivers and pedestrians should
be aware that vehicles heading into the sun may not see the traffic light or
stop sign - and, may not stop - and should not proceed into that intersection
until they are certain those vehicles will stop.
Using a sun visor can help. But drivers also should be aware it can block their
view of a traffic signal because of the windshield area it covers.
As AAA spokesman Robert Sinclair said: "You're obligated to be extra careful
in certain road conditions. But, you would be surprised how many drivers don't
even think about that - and how many drivers never even bother to slow down.
Instead, they tell themselves, 'Oh, it's just a little glare.' But, as a
driver, you always need to consider that the worst-possible thing that can
happen will happen."
Because, even on the sunniest of days, it can.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
Sun Glare Solutions
