Originally Posted by
CB HI
No one that has pulled out in front of me while riding a motorcycle or bicycle had the sun in there eyes.
There is no excuse to the sun in the eyes claim.
Several years ago I missed a flight from a Houston Airport late one afternoon. By the time I rented a car to make the 6 hour drive to New Orleans the sun was setting directly behind me. I was driving thru an industrial area with few side streets but lots of driveways. As I approached one of those driveways a car idling there facing the roadway proceeded across the road right in front of me, as if he didn't see me. I slammed on the brakes so hard the automatic transmission was jarred into neutral. The Nissan Versa I rented had ABS brakes thankfully but it was a super close call - INCHES.
The sun was touching the horizon directly behind me. I knew what happened immediately. Like a bomber or fighter pilot, or a peregrine falcon, I used the setting sun to conceal my position - inadvertently. Maybe that driver was high on crack too, but driving straight out of a setting sun sure didn't help.
"Oswald Boelcke, a German fighter ace during World War I, was the first to publish the basic rules for aerial combat manoeuvring in 1916, known as the Dicta Boelcke.[4][5] He advised pilots to attack from the direction of the sun (toward which the defending pilot could not see)..."
Source
So I wonder how many dead fighter pilots blamed the sun for their demise? Could it be proven? I bet the Ace who shot them down believes it worked.
"Like fighter pilots, some [falcons] approach with the rising sun at their backs, using the glare to blind the “prey.” - Source
Embrace the SCIENCE!
This entire sun discussion reminds me of something. Hmmm. Oh, now I remember!!
South Dakota ER Nurse, November 2020: "They tell you there must be another reason they are sick. They call you names and ask why you have to wear all that “stuff” because they don't have COVID because it's not real. Yes. This really happens.These people really think this isn't going to happen to them. And then they stop yelling at you when they get intubated." - Source
I guess until some folks get hit by a car cycling into a sun low in the sky they will never believe it. Oh the denial. It'll never happen to me.