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news
Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)Slow down when driving into the sun, urges Cycling UK
With the clocks going back this weekend, Cycling UK is urging motorists to slow down when they are driving towards the sun.
The national cycling charity says that “dazzling sun” was cited as a contributory factor in the deaths of 17 cyclists in 2020, compared to four the previous year.
Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s head of campaigns said: “A four-fold increase in deaths with a contributory factor of ‘dazzling sun’ is alarming and could be avoided by driving more carefully.
“Cycling UK would encourage anyone dazzled by the sun to drop your speed, and where appropriate and safe to do so, stop until they have clear visibility of the road again.
“The last thing anyone wants to do is to cause another person’s death due to being dazzled. Please take appropriate precautions, and keep you and others safe in doing so.”
Cycling UK is also urging drivers to consider:
giving as much room as practically possible when overtaking (at least a car’s width) due to need of cyclists to manoeuvre around drains, potholes and other road debris;
giving more in wet weather when surfaces will be more slippery and
using dipped headlights when approaching people cycling as they would for other road users.
While the Highway Code tells motorists to drive to the conditions, in the past week alone on road.cc we’ve covered two stories in which drivers convicted of killing cyclists – one of whom was speeding – blamed the sun being in their eyes as a factor in the fatal crashes.
In each case, the drivers were handed suspended jail sentences, causing the families of the victims to question the justice system.
Last week, Victoria Hamer, 26, was convicted of causing the death by dangerous driving of cyclist Lorraine Barrow in Somerset, and said that she did not see the rider because the sun was in her eyes – although the court heard that the motorist speeding at the time of the crash.
Earlier this week, we reported how motorist Lowri Powell – who likewise blamed she had been blinded by the low sun – was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after she was convicted of causing the death by careless driving of 61-year-old cyclist Paul James in April 2019.
> End “us versus them” culture to improve safety of cyclists, urges Welsh Government minister
Powell hit Mr James – a Plaid Cymru councillor for Ceredigion and former paratrooper – from behind, causing him to come off his bike and fall into the path of another car, causing fatal injuries.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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42 comments
You realize the sun doesn't go down, it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round.
And everyone you know, someday, will die.
And hawkinspeter's a lapsed Catholic.
Not that sort of pope.
How dare you! I've never associated with the Catholic church in any form.
We were talking about Discordian Popes: https://www.mookychick.co.uk/health/witchcraft-spirituality/discordia.php
My mistake. At least I didn't make any claims about your arboreal defecation habits.
I thought about what you said all night, and I could only conclude you are right, when it dawned on me in the morning.
Once it has been decided, as it largely has been by the police and the judiciary, that 'I didn't mean to do it' is a valid excuse for any offence against a cyclist (even when the motorist deliberately drove into the cyclist), it's not surprising that not obeying the learner driver law, or continuing to put the foot down even when you can't see the road ahead etc. aren't taken seriously either.
Saw the aftermath of a smash this morning on our group ride that had clearly been caused by a driver going too fast, and either them or the other driver having the sun in their eyes. Both walked away from it, but one (expensive, fast) car was a complete write off.
"Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s head of campaigns said: “A four-fold increase in deaths with a contributory factor of ‘dazzling sun’ is alarming and could be avoided by driving more carefully. "
A frightening statistic but I wonder if they are all genuine or whether defence lawyers have discovered another effective strategy to go along with "momentary lapse of concentration".
I'll give you one guess
Low sun is one situation that scares me.
If I am having trouble seeing where I'm going on the bike at 18mph, then the vehicle with a dirty windscreen coming up behind me at 50mph is effectively out of control.
Get onto a minor road if you can, It's a good time to stop for a coffee. Generally the phenomena is not long lasting.
This is no time to worry about primary and secondary road positions, get over to the left, sit up to make yourself as large as possible and pray
That's the trouble with wearing a sports visor with an ongoing low sun situation. I can't so easily make a dubious claim about being dazzled if I'm involved in an accident.
Asking a large proportion of drivers to slow down for anything, is pretty pointless, as society has become increasingly impatient and self-entitled.
They also seem to have lost any sense of self-preservation, judging by the amount of people who don't change their speed or road position, when encountering oncoming traffic, on narrow roads.
All of this is true, regardless of whether bicycles are present or not.
While I can't help agreeing with CUK, their appeal would seem pointless unless the authorities start treating dangerous driving as, well, dangerous. Driving into a dazzling sun is clearly dangerous, and requires anyone with any sense to slow down so that they can stop in the distance they can see; the most basic of all road rules. Anyone who doesn't do that is clearly not fit to drive and should have their licence removed permanently.
It's time society recognised that driving isn't a right, it's a privilege, a privilege that can be taken away at any time if it is abused. There are millions of drivers who abuse that privilege every day, so the judicial system should be removing them from the road for the benefit of us all, but it doesn't; it excuses them. Removing them from the road would improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, reduce danger and deaths and injuries, and we'd all live happily ever after. The public are just as much those dead and their relatives as those who drive, but only the drivers seem to be represented in our system.
Just wait until the review of road laws issues its report etc, etc, etc.
Did you actually read the article - did anyone? They start with an image of two cyclists riding at night and finished with a reminder of cycle light and reflector requirements. As if any cycle light can defend against motorists who chooses to ignore the fact that they are unable to see. The article is horrendous.
Another reminder that the justice system does not consider killing a cyclist to be a serious offence. Joke suspended sentences for just carrying on driving/ speeding when you can't see because the 'sun is in your eyes'.
Just because the killer driver used the "blinded by the low sun" as an explanation as to why their awful driving took the life of someone going about their entirely lawful business, doesn't mean we should automatically believe them.
Agreed. I also expect that the quadrupling of people using that excuse is because their legal advice is to use that response, since it clearly works.
Stupid commenting system doesn't allow deleting comments...
No; but you can edit it until nothing is left except the final full stop.
Good point.
.
It's a full stop not a point, yankee!
Well that was a pointless comment.
Actually it's a period! 🥸
Oh dear. What have I unleashed??
No good worrying about that now - it's too late to .
I lived in the good ole U.S. of A. for a while and couldn't handle when someone was dictating they would announce 'period' instead of 'full stop'.
Is that normal in the U period S period of A period?
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