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A skeptic might say there's a cloud in every silver lining.
The sun, which ignored us for much of this long, overcast winter, suddenly is bursting out of the early morning sky and blinding us as we drive to work.
“Sometimes it's so bad that even sunglasses don't work,” said Vibhu Bhatnager, who travels daily from his west Omaha home to his job downtown with Union Pacific Railroad.
It's a Midlands rite of spring. And it will pass.
Ralph Bouwmeester is a civil engineer whose Canadian firm, R. Bouwmeester & Associates, analyzes sun and shadow positions in relation to traffic accidents and building projects. We talked with him about the problem some cities face:
Q. Why is glare a problem right now?
A. Several reasons.
Many cities' streets are laid out along an east-west and north-south grid. At the start of spring and autumn the sun rises directly out of the east at a time, because of the changing length of daylight, that coincides with the morning commute.
The March 14 change to daylight saving time also compounded the problem.
During other times of the year, the sun rises slightly out of the northeast or southeast a problem for drivers on streets that angle in those directions.
Q. Do many cities have this problem now?
A. Yes ... including Omaha, Lincoln and Des Moines.
Omaha's situation is worsened by the fact that downtown is on its eastern edge, while the western fringe is largely residential. Thus a significant number of commuters are driving directly into the sun. Also, the city's hills can suddenly blind drivers as they go over a crest.
Q. Can I schedule my commute so that the sun doesn't affect me?
A. Glare is most severe while the sun is low, in the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset. (The sunrise and sunset schedule is published daily on The World-Herald weather page.)
Q. How long will rush-hour glare be a problem?
A. It's typically the worst for a couple of weeks on either side of the first day of spring and the first day of autumn. The sun's seasonal trek takes it to its farthest place north in the sky on the first day of summer and farthest place south on the first day of winter. On the first day of spring and fall, the sun is directly over the equator and rising out of due east.
In a few weeks it will have moved far enough north and will be rising earlier, so it won't bedevil drivers.
Q. Spring started a week ago. Why hasn't the sun been in my eyes for most of the past couple weeks?
A. Skies generally have been cloudy. Also, the change to daylight saving time put more drivers on the road at the hour the sun was coming up.
Q. Has the glare caused accidents?
A. Fred Zwonechek, Nebraska Highway Safety Administrator, said that about 10 to 15 years ago, a cluster of fatal accidents coincided with sun glare and prompted a study of the issue. At that time, the study indicated a correlation between sun glare and accidents. Zwonechek believes that's still true.
Q. What can I do to lessen the problem?
The following tips are provided by the Omaha Police Department and the Greater Omaha Chapter of the National Safety Council.
Ÿ Wear polarized, ultraviolet protective sunglasses.
Ÿ Look to the side of your driving lane, not directly ahead into the sun.
Ÿ Flip your car's visor down. (But be sure it's not cluttered with papers that will drop in your lap and distract you.)
Ÿ Keep your windshield clean, inside and out.
Ÿ Leave the dust on your dashboard a shiny dash adds to glare. Light-colored dashboards compound glare, too.
Ÿ Drive slowly and give yourself space and time to react.
Ÿ Change your route to a shadier one if you can.
Ÿ Be prepared for when you will need to turn into the sun or crest a hill, since those situations create the most dangerous circumstances.
Ÿ Turn your headlights on, especially if the sun is to your back, so that those facing the glare can better see you.
Ÿ Keep in mind that pedestrians in the crosswalk don't realize you can't see them.
Ÿ Check traffic lights and monitor behavior of cross-traffic if you can't tell whether your stoplight is green or red.
Contact the writer:
444-1102, nancy.gaarder@owh.com
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