Driving in Low Sun and Glare: Our Tips

Getting into the winter months as a driver can often feel like a gradual pile-up of extra hazards – you’ve got black ice, snowstorms, excessive rain, deteriorating roads, and even low sun. And, while this may seem like an unexpected addition to a first-time driver, experienced drivers know how hard it can be to drive when being dazzled by sunlight and glare.

So, what is low sun and glare, and what can you do about them?

What is low sun?

Because of the rotation of the earth on its axis (the wobbling effect you’ll likely have seen in solar system animations), the angle of the sun against the northern hemisphere in winter is really low. In some places, it’s at such a low angle in the winter months that it doesn’t come back up again for up to 52 days!

In the UK, however, we’re always in a bit of a limbo.

Driving with the sun directly in your eyes is unpleasant – and it’s also not a valid excuse if you get into an accident. What’s more, the low angle of the sun coupled with newly reflective surfaces like snow and ice creates a lot of indirect glare, and is a real recipe for quick dazzling.

What's sun glare?

Glare can happen in the summer months, too, but is less likely to be directly from the sun - because it’s usually at a higher angle. With the sun low, you get the direct shine from it (as mentioned above) but you also get diffraction and diffusion due to any moisture in the air or on the roads.

So if it’s drizzling, you’ll likely get a general glare from the sun and from other drivers’ headlights. But you can also have the sun bounce off wetness on the road, and then get refracted again by moisture on your windscreen - creating a sort of double-glare.

But what can you do about low sun and glare?

Use your car’s visor

The first thing you’d think of doing is using the visor. This is, of course, great for when the sun’s at a high enough angle that you can block it with the visor – but this isn’t always possible. Visors are also great for blocking side light if you’re driving, for example, at a ninety degree angle to the sun. 

Often, however, the problem of low sun glare is that the sun is so low that the visor’s as good as useless – because the sun is shining directly in front of you (or behind you and into your rear-view mirror). The best thing to do in that situation is this next point. 

Invest in some good sunglasses

Wearing sunglasses while driving can feel concerning for many new drivers; after all, the aim is to have as much visibility of the road as possible. But the perception that sunglasses make everything darker comes primarily from using more basic tinted-glass sunglasses. These work by darkening the whole of the glass to reduce the overall amount of light that comes through, which means there’s less glare, but also potentially some less visibility.

Instead, invest in some good polarised sunglasses. These are usually tinted to a degree, but work primarily by blocking sunlight at certain angles. So they don’t necessarily darken your general view, but they stop light that’s bouncing off the road from dazzling you.

That said, you’ll still need to be careful to take them off when the general light drops.

Keep your windscreen clean

You might not expect this, but keeping your windscreen clean can actually dramatically reduce the amount of glare you experience. And this applies to the inside as well as the outside of your windscreen.

Think of it in the same way as fog or dust – when you shine a torch into it, the light diffracts and is so diffused by the particles in the air that it effectively blocks the light. The same thing happens to your windscreen: dirt and moisture refract the light into the glass in unpredictable ways, and then dirt and moisture on the inside of the glass diffract the light in doubly unpredictable ways.

If you’re someone who has to wear glasses, this effect then happens again as light interacts with the glasses. So even relatively focused light quickly becomes a troublesome glare.

Slow down & keep your distance

Much like driving in any reduced visibility situation, like heavy snow or rain, be sure to slow down and keep well away from cars in front. Some reckless drivers may get annoyed at you for driving at a reduced speed and keeping your distance, but it’s much better to be safe than sorry. And you’ll usually find that, when they can’t see ahead particularly well, people will generally slow down naturally.

Ultimately, slowing down and leaving plenty of room ahead of you gives you ample time to respond to hazards.

Make sure your car’s safe for winter

Dealing with low sun glare is important, but it’s no help if your wheels and brakes can’t stop you in an emergency. Be sure to take your car to your local Kwik Fit centre for a free winter checkup to keep you safe on the roads all year round.