We haven’t seen much sun in Belgium this year, but now that the first signs of spring are appearing, the Walloon Road Safety Agency (AWSR) is warning about glare from the sun in traffic at this time of the year.

During these months, the sun is low on the horizon at exactly the times when traffic is at its busiest. According to figures from AWSR, in 2024, a low sun was responsible for three deaths and 163 injuries in traffic in Wallonia.

Veil of light

February is one of the most accident-prone months, along with September and October. The sun is particularly low in the sky during these months, especially during rush hour between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. The risk of being blinded is at its highest, which increases the likelihood of an accident, especially while driving, where 90% of information is received through the eyes.

These three months account for one-third of incidents involving glare (33%). Two in five Walloon drivers (41%) also say they have had an accident, or nearly had one, because they were blinded by the sun.

Accidents involving glare mainly occur between two road users (86%). In almost one in two cases (46%), these are side or rear collisions related to poor visibility.

Although more than half of the victims (53%) are car occupants, one-third of the victims in these types of accidents are pedestrians and cyclists who are simply not seen by the driver.

Sunglasses and a clean windshield are important

To reduce the risk of accidents, the AWSR recommends always having sunglasses within reach behind the wheel, thoroughly cleaning your windshield because a dirty windshield scatters light, turning it into an opaque white wall in backlight, and adjusting your speed and keeping your distance.

Using your low beams is also a good habit that drastically reduces the risk, as it makes you more visible to oncoming traffic driving into the sun.

If you do get blinded, brake gently and immediately. The human eye needs a few seconds to adjust to bright glare; at 90 kph, you can easily cover 25 meters ‘blind’ in that time.

And one more thing, the sun visor is there for a reason, so use it.

The risk of a collision increases by 20%

For Belgium as a whole, detailed annual national figures specifically isolating sun glare as a cause are less consistently published than general accident statistics. But if you extrapolate the figures of Wallonia, then Belgium might experience approximately 400–500 sun-glare-related accidents per year

The figures for the rest of Europe are similar to those for Belgium, plus or minus. Studies in several EU countries estimate that sun glare is involved in 1–3% of injury crashes, or 200–600 fatalities annually.

According to British statistics, the sun is responsible for an average of 2,500 to 3,000 injuries per year. It is the most important “weather-related” cause of accidents there, even ahead of fog, snow, or strong winds.

In the Netherlands, research by Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN) shows that the risk of a collision increases by 20% when the sun is low in the sky. In Germany, the number of accidents caused by glare is likely underestimated because they are often classified as “other” or “inattention” in police reports.

In the rest of the world, countries with many straight east-west roads, such as the US or Australia, statistically suffer much more from glare during rush hour than countries with winding roads, because the sun shines continuously in the driver’s face for minutes at a time.

A large-scale American study also showed that the risk of a fatal accident increases by 16% during bright sunshine compared to normal weather conditions. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate that around 9,000 crashes per year are linked to sun glare, resulting in roughly 100 fatalities annually.

Notorious phenomenon in Greenland and polar regions

Worldwide, most “sun accidents” occur at intersections, where drivers simply stop seeing traffic lights or crossing pedestrians because of the sun.

And while Greenland may still be in Trump’s sights, contrary to what you might expect, glare in Greenland and the polar regions is a notorious phenomenon due to the “Eternal Low Sun.”

During the transition to the midnight sun in spring and the polar night in autumn, the sun does not dip as low as it does here, but remains just above the horizon for hours, sometimes almost the entire day.

In addition, there is also the Albedo effect, whereby snow and ice reflect up to 80% to 90% of the sun’s rays. In Arctic regions, special software is even used when designing new roads to minimize the ‘Sun Blinding Effects’ (SBE).

In other words, the risk factor per kilometer driven is extremely high, although fortunately, the absolute number of car accidents in Greenland is low because there are very few roads (and, as a consequence, cars) between cities.