Sunrise & Sunset Safety

 

I had a moment this morning where I went from a little indignant to a lot sympathetic. It was a gorgeous morning to get out and run- 50 degrees, nice breeze, and an amazing sunrise. As a motorcyclist, I generally have a pretty high situational awareness regarding traffic; I don't wear headphones and rarely get lost in the scenery unless I'm on trail. I always assume drivers are distracted and I'm basically invisible.

This morning, though, I was crossing a residential street and a guy and his passenger were driving right toward me. I could see that he was looking at the road (not the usual staring-at-the-crotch-checking-email look), and I was thinking, I'm crossing, I'm crossing, I'm crossing, why aren't you slowing down?

At the last second, I stopped and waved at him as he pulled up to make his right turn. The look of 'holy shit where did you come from?!' is a familiar one for any runner, bicyclist, rollerblader, or motorcyclist. I'm bold, but not stupid- there are graveyards filled with people who had the right of way. I smiled and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. I looked to my left at him as he completed his turn and we both continued down the street. What dominated my vision was a dazzling bright orange ball and I immediately realized between the sun blinding him and me being in the A-pillar of his SUV, I didn't have a good chance of being seen. Usually, motorists suck and don't pay attention, but sometimes the deck is totally stacked against them.

This minor incident reminded me of something the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, various driver's ed texts, and a construction safety manual or two preach about. During sunrise/sunset, look at your shadow and see which way it's pointing. In a nutshell, your shadow is pointing in the direction of people that can't see you. It's that simple! Pay extra attention and assume a) they're dazzled by the sun, b) you're in the blind spot created by their sunvisor (or baseball hat, etc), or c) they just hate people who have awesome life habits and want to kill you. I doubt too many people fall into category c, but you can never be sure. Run and ride safely!



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