The Rolleston Volunteer Fire Brigade has attended six crashes over the past two weeks, where people had to be cut out of vehicles. Fire chief Marty Tier said sunstrike was a possible factor in all of them.
"Most of the calls we’re getting are from sunstrike and pulling out in front of people and not seeing them,” he said.
Tier said the crashes happened between 7.15-8.30am when the rising sun was low in the sky.
A crash at the intersection of Jones and Curraghs Rds at 7.20am on Thursday left one person critically injured. The week before, a van driver was seriously injured after hitting a truck on State Highway 73 near the intersection with Kirk Rd.
Tier said icy, dirty or fogged up windscreens can make sunstrike worse.
He also reminded his own brigade members about the risks of driving with a frozen or foggy windscreen.
From 2021-2025, sunstrike was deemed likely to have played a part in 15 fatal crashes across New Zealand, nearly 100 crashes that caused serious injuries and 500 minor injury crashes.
Automobile Association Canterbury and West Coast chair John Skevington had a simple message for motorists.
“If you can’t see pull over.”
Skevington said you may need to stop for five or 10 minutes to allow the sun to rise or set enough for it to become safe to drive again.
"Most bosses would prefer you turn up in one piece and a few minutes late.”
The six crashes over the last fortnight all took place in the lead up to Road Safety Week, which started on Monday.
Mayor Lydia Gliddon is supporting a region‑wide Road Safety Week campaign with a clear message: Every crash impacts more than just the numbers.
Last year 261 people were killed or seriously injured on Canterbury roads.
In the Road Safety Week campaign video, Gliddon said: “It breaks your heart when you think that’s someone's mother, daughter, father, brother or your child. And it's the flow on effect of that.
“Our health services, our volunteers, our fire brigades, they're all affected by this when they see this trauma. So put the phone down and pay attention.”
