With fall almost here, sun glare is becoming a bigger issue for Reno drivers.
Dust and bugs on your windshield light up, and visibility drops when you're facing the sun. While it's tempting to clean your windshield right away, the Nevada Highway Patrol says that's a bad idea.
"If you do it when you're getting that sun glare coming through, you're going to blind yourself," said Sergeant Chris Brown, Public Information Officer for NHP.
He says it's because "that water is going to go over your windshield from you spraying it. And that sun plus the water is going to make a really bad combination."
Sergeant Brown says NHP has seen crashes in the past as a result of this.
Your best bet is to either clean your windshield before you drive or do it once the glare is gone, and Reno Police recommend replacing your wiper blades every so often.
"Sometimes, if you have the weathered ones, it's going to smear things across your windshield instead of properly cleaning it," said Officer Hunter Mercurio. "You should be doing that at least every six months to make sure that you have a fresh windshield."
While sun glare is at its worst in the morning and afternoon, motorcycles are riding around all day long.
As we've been following, there's been a lot of crashes involving motorcycles recently, including two on Monday.
While the crashes are still under investigation, Sergeant Brown says riders need to be vigilant in their awareness of other traffic.
"I ride a motorcycle and you're taking your life in your hands," he said. "But every vehicle that's on the roadway is something that you have to worry about when you're a rider."
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that in 2023 - the last year with full data - 6,335 motorcyclists were killed on American roads. That's 15% of all road deaths.
So, drivers should double-check their blind spots and give motorcycles extra distance.
"Be cognizant of motorcycles," Sergeant Brown said. "They are smaller. They are harder to see. So, make sure you are paying attention for that."
