Driving while the sun is in your eyes making it "impossible to see" can be driver negligence.

Driving while the sun is in your eyes making it impossible to see what is in front of you, most of the time is a civil wrong. Just because a driver isn't given a ticket (citation for violating the law) doesn't mean they aren't negligent. In other words a driver can still be sued in civil court even though the police officer didn't issue a ticket. On November 19, 2007 I'll post about falling asleep while driving.

So when for instance a young child is struck by a car, like the one that happened at 25th Street and Forest Avenue in Des Moines on Monday night, the driver of the van can still be sued for negligence. The standards for criminal laws being violated and civil rules being breached are different. Criminal violations are tougher to prove. So a child crossing the street and being run down by a car or van where the driver claims the sun was in his eyes, may still be wrong civilly. And that civil breach will probably lead to recoverable damages.

Everyone knows the sun is there and is in the west when it sets. It's not like this is some act of God that today the sun for the first time ever is setting in the West. We all have or should have a pair of sun glasses available when we drive to help out in these situations. And at 6:30 pm which is about the time this child was struck, we know in early October that it will be something drivers need to contend with.

So no ticket issued doesn’t mean not negligent.