Driver Safety
Driving Into Low Winter Sun — Why Glare Kills, and How to Beat It
On a clear winter morning the sun sits low and straight in your eyes — and for a second or two you can see nothing at all. That blind moment is when pedestrians and cyclists vanish. Here's why, and how to take your sight back.
Why Low Sun Is So Dangerous
It's not just uncomfortable — it can blind you completely.
In autumn and winter the sun stays low in the sky for much of the day, sitting right at eye level when you drive east in the morning or west in the afternoon. Looked at directly, it can completely wash out your view of the road — and your eyes need time to recover even after you've looked away.
The deadly part is what disappears. A pedestrian stepping off a kerb, a cyclist at the edge of the lane, a child between parked cars, a red traffic light — all can be swallowed by glare. "I never saw them, the sun was in my eyes" is one of the most common things drivers say after a collision they could have prevented by simply slowing down.
Treat low sun as a hazard, not an annoyance. It deserves the same respect as fog or ice. The single most effective response is the simplest: slow down so that whatever you can't yet see, you still have time to react to.
The Dirty Windscreen Problem
The hidden factor that turns sun into a white-out.
A windscreen that looks fine in dull light becomes a blinding sheet of scatter the moment low sun hits the smears, dust and greasy film on the glass. The light bounces off every speck — and a smeared screen can be far worse than the sun alone. The inside of the glass is usually the worst offender, coated in a haze you stop noticing.
Keep the glass clear
- Clean the windscreen inside and out — the inside builds up an oily film
- Keep your washer fluid topped up and use it before the glare hits
- Replace worn wiper blades that smear rather than clear
- Don't drive off with a screen smeared from de-icing or condensation
Little things that help
- A clean screen cuts scatter dramatically — it's the cheapest safety upgrade there is
- Keep a microfibre cloth in the car for the inside of the glass
- Watch for the screen fogging as you warm up on a cold morning
How to Beat the Glare
A handful of habits that keep you seeing.
1
Slow down & lengthen your gap
Reduce speed and increase the distance to the vehicle ahead. If you can't see clearly, you must be able to stop in the distance you can see.
2
Use the sun visor
Drop the visor to block the direct disc of the sun. Angle it to the side window too when the sun is low and off to one side.
3
Wear good sunglasses
A decent pair of sunglasses cuts the intensity hugely. Keep them in the car all winter — glare is a year-round, not just summer, problem.
4
Look to the road edge
When dazzled, glance to the left edge of your lane to keep your position while your eyes cope — but slow down rather than press on blind.
If you genuinely can't see, you must stop. There's no shame in easing off and pulling in safely for a moment until the dazzle passes or you adjust. Driving on blind, hoping nothing is there, is how people get hurt.
When the Sun Is Behind You
The danger flips — now it's other people who can't see you.
When the low sun is behind you, your own view may be fine — but a driver coming the other way, or pulling out of a junction towards you, is being blinded by it. They may genuinely not see you at all. The same goes for drivers behind you when the sun is low to the rear.
Protect yourself
- Assume oncoming and emerging drivers facing the sun may not see you
- Consider switching on dipped headlights to make yourself more visible
- Take extra care at junctions where someone is looking into the glare
- Don't assume a driver who "should" have seen you actually did
Be predictable
- Signal early and clearly so dazzled drivers get more warning
- Avoid sudden moves that a blinded driver can't anticipate
- Give cyclists and pedestrians extra room — they're hardest to see in glare
When & Where to Expect It
Glare is predictable — so you can plan for it.
The danger times
- Morning rush heading east into the rising sun
- Evening rush heading west into the setting sun
- Autumn and winter, when the sun never climbs high
- Just after rain, when wet roads and spray add their own dazzle
The danger places
- Cresting a hill straight into the sun
- Pedestrian crossings and junctions on an east–west road
- Coming out of shade or a tunnel into bright low sun
- Anywhere your usual commute points at the sunrise or sunset
The one-line version: clean your glass, carry sunglasses, drop the visor — and above all, slow down so the things you can't see yet can't catch you out. Low sun is a hazard you can see coming, so plan for it.
Driving in tough conditions is a skill worth training
Glare, rain, fog, night — the test barely touches them, but they're where real driving gets hard. Our development lessons build the judgement to handle all of them safely.
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