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Driving with Sun Glare: Tips To Stay Safe

Whether you take late afternoon drives or early morning trips to the office, you’re sure to experience sun glare somewhere in your life as a driver. 

Sun glare is an atmospheric condition presenting extreme danger on the road and can be classified as a driving emergency of note. Just imagine turning a corner and being blinded by the sun’s bright light. It can be a scary and uncomfortable experience or even fatal if an accident occurs. 

Lucky for you, we’ve compiled some sun glare safety tips to equip you for the road. Let’s dive in!

How Can Sun Glare Affect a Driver’s Ability to See?

Essentially, sun glare refers to the sun’s bright light interfering with a driver’s vision while on the road. This is dangerous for various reasons. Since sun glare affects vision performance and road perception, the likelihood of accidents increases. Physically, sun glare also impacts the driver by tiring out the eyes and causing momentary blindness. At the same time, psychologically, the anxiety associated with sun glare affects decision-making skills and reaction time.

What Causes Sun Glare?

Driving directly into the sunlight is sometimes unavoidable, and the angle of the light can cause a gleaming glare across the windshield. This generally happens when the sun is low on the horizon, like in the early morning or late afternoon. Reflective objects on the car’s dashboard while driving may also be a culprit responsible for sun glare. 

How Do You Deal with Sun Glare While Driving?

So, how do you deal with sun glare? First, you must do everything in your power to prevent it from causing an accident. 

Sun Glare Prevention Tips

What is the best way to prevent sun glare from causing accidents? Here are some tips to guide you.

1. Use Your Sun Visor

Sun visors are the overhead flaps above the driver’s and passenger’s seats. Explicitly designed to shield your eyes from glare, sun visors can be adjusted to match your viewing angle. Although this may seem obvious, don’t forget to use your sun visor, and never use your hands to block the sun from your eyes.

2. Wear Polarised Sunglasses

Talking about shielding your eyes from the sun, we also suggest you wear polarised sunglasses. Polarised sunglasses go a long way in protecting your eyes from sun glare.

When light waves strike a flat surface, causing the light to bounce off the surface horizontally, it results in an intense glare. The filters on sunglasses’ polarised lenses have small vertical openings that only allow vertical lightwaves to come through, reducing sun glare by blocking horizontal light waves from passing through the lenses. 

3. Avoid Peak Glare Times

The most dangerous times of day are the early morning and late afternoon. Therefore, you should avoid driving at these times if possible.

4. Take an Alternative Route

If sun glare is a regular occurrence on your daily commute, you may want to look at finding another route. Routes that run to the north or south will keep you from travelling directly into the sun and getting hit by its reflection in your mirrors. Roads surrounded by tall buildings or trees can also help shield you from sun glare.

5. Keep Your Windshield Clean

A dirty windshield can make it even harder for you to see clearly when the sun glare hits. Make sure you have enough wiper fluid in your car at all times and clean your windshield regularly to prevent sun glare complications.

6. Clear the Dashboard

Declutter your dashboard, especially removing any reflective objects that may worsen sun glare.

7. Switch on Your Headlights

Should you face sun glare, having your headlights switched on will make you more visible to other drivers. Safety first!

8. Tint Your Windshield and Car Windows

Sometimes, even all of the tips mentioned above aren’t enough to keep sun glare at bay. The best way to shield yourself from the dangers of sun glare is to tint your windshield and car windows. 

Sun Glare Safety Tips

Next time you tear up or squint at the bright sunlight, use these tips to stay safe.

1. Slow Down

As soon as the sun glare hits your eyes, avoid looking directly into the light and slow down gradually.

2. Leave Some Space

By slowing down, you’ll create space between you and the vehicles in front of you, reducing the risk of an accident.

3. Indicate

It’s always good to switch on your emergency lights to indicate to other vehicles that you’re experiencing trouble. This will show other drivers that they must be cautious, minimising the chances of an accident occurring.

4. Adjust Your Mirrors

It may be necessary to adjust your car mirrors ever so slightly to avoid having glaring eyes. 

5. Follow Road Markings

When you can’t see correctly, try to look at the road ahead and follow its markings to ensure that you stay in the right lane.

How Do You Stop Sun Glare on Windshields?

There are three surefire ways to stop sun glare on your windshield.

Clean Your Windshield Regularly

Although you might think that gradually accumulating dust and dirt is not a big deal, a dirty windshield can quickly become a problem when the sun shines on it. Do yourself a favour and keep your windshield completely clear. 

Fix Any Chips or Cracks in Your Windshield

Besides being clean, your windshield should also be perfectly smooth. Chips and cracks not only cause your glass to be less safe, but when sunlight bounces off broken edges in your windscreen, it could cause quite a blinding glare.

Car Window Tinting

As we’ve mentioned, tinted windows and windshields help to reduce light glare immensely. From clear solar tints for your windshield to full 5 window tints, a car window tint is the best way to prevent sun glare.

Who Can Help You with Sun Glare Protection?

At Dean’s Autoglass, we offer the best sun glare protection options with our car window and windshield tints. Specialising in tinted glass windows, we provide the tinted windows car owners dream of, from solar tints to dyed tints and more! 
For all your windshield tinting, repair and replacement needs, contact us today.