Shining light on Road Safety

Although this year’s Road Safety Week activities in the region concluded on Sunday, the Wairarapa Road Safety Council [WRSC] is keen to sheet home the risks related to sunstrike as winter weather settles in.

WRSC manager Bruce Pauling, manager at the Wairarapa Road Safety Council [WRSC] is urging motorists to take the necessary precautions to protect against sunstrike, which occurs when the low-lying sun shines directly through a car’s front window, making it hard to see where you are going.

“The most important thing with these upcoming days is that people have crystal clean windscreens,” Pauling said.

“When you get up in the morning, turn your car on, defrost your windscreen, and go make a coffee; then when you go back out, it should be clear.”

Pauling said that the grime and muck that builds on your windscreen becomes much harder to see through when the sun is directly hitting it at a low angle, and so other steps should be taken, like replacing wiper blades if necessary or putting fluids in the windscreen water tank to help clean the grime off.

He also noted that using your sun visor and sunglasses is important, too.

In the event of experiencing sunstrike while driving, there are some critical steps to take if you find yourself temporarily blinded, Pauling said.

“If you can’t see and need to stop, don’t slam on your brakes. Slow down, pull over and, if necessary, roll down your side window to get a bearing of where you are. Once you get a sense of where you are going, you should safely pull out again.”

Sunstrike is expected to be an ongoing potential hazard during dawn and dusk until August.

Pauling spent Road Safety Week out and about in the five main Wairarapa townships, promoting road safety and collecting feedback from the community about issues people want addressed.

He said that WRSC is still collating the submissions, but some common themes emerged, including the state of the roads, and concern over cyclists’ safety.

Another issue mentioned was the implementation of slow vehicle lanes on Remutaka Hill, a decision which the New Zealand Transport Agency is now monitoring to assess if it was the right choice.