Driving blind: Investigating crashes caused by sun glare

While sun glare is temporary, it must be considered when conducting the accident reconstruction analysis. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Ask drivers about sun glare, and they all agree that it is challenging to drive when dazzling sunbeams trigger momentary blindness. It makes sense then to wonder if sun blindness, and other sources of glare, are significant factors in motor vehicle accidents. Does anecdotal evidence correlate with crash statistics?

Unfortunately, drilling down to that answer is difficult because crash statistics gathered by law enforcement agencies do not supply an adequate level of detail. It is a rare state that offers much beyond “obscured vision” as an accident factor, and that refers to lighting or weather conditions rather than sun glare. Arizona, a state with record-leading sunny days, is the only one to offer sun glare as an option to check under “Vision Obscurement” in the state’s standard motor vehicle accident report.