Be careful passing with the sun at your back

from Leland Kornhaus of the LD Riders list, September 1998

Whenever the sun is directly behind you, particularly if it's in your mirrors, be very careful about moving to the left to overtake and extra cautious when overtaking others. If you can't see in your mirrors, assume others can't either - and act accordingly. Fall is a time of the year that this takes on special importance as the commute to or from work begins to coincide with sunset or sundown.

This insight dawned upon me in the form of a pickup truck I was overtaking on I-80 Eastbound near sunset. A moderate pucker factor event as I'm always prepared for cages trying to occupy my lane. I'm irritated with myself for not _anticipating_ the truck to be blind. I had just come off an on ramp from northbound 39/51 and didn't check my mirrors because I'd observed the speeds and positions of others while merging. After the incident, I checked my mirrors and was blinded by a direct view of the sun.

An extention of the point:
When the sun's behind you cars entering the roadway present a greater risk than usual. If you see a car preparing to enter the roadway or make a turn onto the road at an intersection when the sun is behind you expect the driver to treat you as if you are invisible.

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