Sun glare is known to adversely affect driving conditions, and some measures against traffic accidents from sun glare have been implemented. Quantitative analysis of the influence of sun glare on traffic accident occurrence has not been carried out, so the seriousness of such glare as a traffic safety problem is unknown. The Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters has been recording latitude and longitude of the accident location and vehicle travel direction as additional data items for traffic accidents in the prefecture. The authors used these additional data items to analyze the degree to which sun glare affects traffic accident occurrence. It was found that when the sun is in a position that tends to blind drivers, traffic accidents tend to be more frequent. The effect of sun glare on accident occurrence was quantified and was found to be very adverse. (Author/publisher)
Abstract