Riders Protecting Riders - Visibility: Tinted Visors vs. Sunglasses?

Riders today have several choices for dealing with bright sunlight; they can purchase a helmet with a tinted sun visor, for example, or wear a transparent visor with sunglasses.  If you’re a motorcycle rider, you should always be thinking about how your style of helmet and gear affect your own safety as well as that of others on the road.  Recent scientific studies indicate that tinted visors actually do a poor job of reducing glare.[1] More important, they also reduce visibility performance.  Yellow-tinted visors are perhaps the most useful, especially at night, but your best option will likely be to select a state-of-the-art pair of motorcycle sunglasses along with a transparent visor.

Motorcycle experts recommend that you find a pair of glasses with excellent visibility features, proper frame size, and effective polarization.  Polarized sunglasses contain a filter that blocks the glare reflected from flat surfaces like roads or water as well as other types of high-intensity images.  Choosing sunglasses over a tinted sun visor will also prevent you from forgetting to change your tinted visor or shield at night to a transparent one, an oversight that can cause significant visibility hazards and dangers on the road.

While the State of New Hampshire does not require riders over the age of 18 to wear a helmet, the best practice for your safety will be to purchase a DOT-certified helmet that will significantly reduce injury in case of an accident.  Wear bright neon clothing to alert drivers to your presence.  But tinted visors, until an optimal model can be developed, will likely limit your capacity to see what’s going on around you without really dimming the sun in your eyes.  So while taking every other precaution on the highways this year, find the right pair of sunglasses also to protect you from the glare!

[1] For example, Lai, Hsin His.  Huang, Hsinfu. 2008.  “Evaluation of Visibility of Tinted Helmet Visors for Motorcycle Riders.” Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. 38.11-12 p.953-958.

image - artist unknown, picture from an exhibition 2002 in London, cdamian from Barcelona, Spain

Articles contained here are not intended to provide legal advice, only providing general information. We encourage individuals to consult with an attorney regarding individual circumstances.