When driving into bright sunlight, you should use sunglasses and your vehicle sun visors for safety. What else are you advised to do? When driving into bright sunlight, you should use sunglasses and your vehicle sun visors for safety. What else are you advised to do?

  • A. Leave your windscreen dirty to block out some of the sun

  • B. Turn your headlights on

  • C. Slow down, or pull over until visibility improves

  • D. Drive on the far left of the road

  •  
    The correct answer is C
     
    You shouldn't leave your windscreen dirty as it will refract the light, and you need to be aware that using your windscreen washers if you're suffering sunstrike will temporarily make your visibility much worse until the windscreen is cleared of water.
     
 
 
 

When can sun strike or sun dazzle occur?

Sun strike or sun dazzle is when the sun is low on the horizon and your sun visors are not low enough to prevent it from getting into your eyes. When it is on the horizon, blocking the sun can mean blocking the view of traffic ahead, too, which makes it dangerous.

Shorter drivers are at more risk of experiencing sun strike because the sun visor is less effectively placed.

Common times when sun strike occurs are:

  • During winter - the sun is lower in the horizon anyway, and also the sun rises and sets during the time people are going to work. If you commute east in the morning and west to go home you will get sun strike twice per day
  • Exiting a tunnel - if the tunnel is long enough your eyes adjust to the relative darkness, then when you exit the tunnel into the bright light, you can't see.
  • Exiting a built-up area - tall building can shade you from the sun and when you move to a less urbanised street the sun can be a problem
  • Reflections - the sun can reflect off buildings, other vehicles' windscreens and, when it's wet, the road surface
  • Going uphill - the sun could be in a position in the sky where it is not a problem, but if you start driving up a steep hill, this could point your vehicle directly at the sun. This can be a problem on roads such as Bullock Track in Auckland which faces north-west, but not at the world's steepest street, Baldwin Street in Dunedin, because that faces south-east.
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