10/15/2012
As you can tell, I'm not sure how to treat this page. However, the glare problem I'm trying to solve came home in a VERY personal way last Friday, and it's worth sharing. I was biking home, as I usually do, and waiting at the exit from the parking lot for traffic in front to clear. It was a terrible glare situation, with the sun directly in front of us at 5:50 pm, so a bit less than an hour before sunset. It was hard to see, and I was in the exit lane of the parking lot with my feet on the ground. The car in front of me had mostly turned out, but was waiting for traffic ahead of it to clear.
I got rear-ended.
The driver was a young lady who was profusely apologetic and who swore she could not see me at all. I'm not surprised. But I actually feel fortunate. I escaped with a bruise.
Luckily, she wasn't going fast, and only caused minor damage to the bicycle. Luckily, my bicycle has a ride-along attachment that absorbed most of the blow, or else my bike seat would have been driven straight into my spine much harder than it was. And most luckily of all, my son was not on the bike with me, because the front of the car wound up where he would have been. It would have been a trip to the hospital for sure.
This is exactly the kind of accident my sunglasses are meant to prevent. This is exactly why they are needed.
Chris
