This routing ride in the wheel increases the risks according to dermatologists

Summer 2025: the car, false friend against UV

July. The sun hits, the air conditioning turns, and on the vacation road or driving the routine, you believe yourself in the shelter, closed windows. However, it is precisely there that the skin lands in silence. Unlike a very widespread belief, The window of a car does not protect you from the harmful rays of the sun. It certainly filters UVB (those who burn), but lets pass a good part of the UVA, Those who penetrate deep into the skin and promote skin cancers.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundationthe side windows can let pass until 50 % by grapes. Result: you are exposed on a daily basis without even realizing it, especially if you often drive or long. And that concerns everyone: vacationers, itinerant workers, VTC drivers or delivery people.

Drivers: why the left side of the body is on the front line

Dermatologists are formal: The arm, face and neck on the driver’s side are the areas most often affected by precancerous or cancerous lesions. A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology showed that 76 % of cases of skin cancer linked to driving concern the left part of the body.
This phenomenon is observed in the United States as in Europe. An analysis carried out in France by the Center Léon Bérard in Lyon recently confirmed a higher prevalence of actinic keratoses (precancerous lesions) In regular drivers, especially among those over 50.

For what ? Because UVs pass Invisible, inodores, silent. Except that their effect is cumulative: Exhibition after exhibitioneven short, they damage the DNA of the skin.

These reflexes to adopt without delay driving

To effectively reduce the risk without upsetting your daily life, specialists recommend simple gestures:

• Apply a Sun Cream index 30 minimumeven for short journeys

• Install Approved transparent anti-UV films on side windows

• Carry Light long sleeves or anti-UVespecially on the left arm

• To use sunglasses with side protection To protect the eyelids

• Program a Annual dermatological check-upespecially if you drive a lot

These measures are strongly recommended by the French Dermatology Federation (SFD)which revives its #Sauversapeau campaign every summer.

Prevention is organized: new alert campaigns

Faced with these observations, initiatives are increasing. In 2024, The SFD has launched a targeted alert on the invisible dangers of summer drivingin particular via displays in service stations and beaches parking lots.
In some highly sunny regions, such as Occitania or Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, dermatologists even recommend “Application of a UV filter as soon as the vehicle is purchased.
Health insurers are beginning to integrate these risks into their prevention tools, in connection with the National skin cancer registerwhose figures have doubled in 30 years.

In France, according to Public Health France, The number of new cases of skin cancer now reaches 100,000 per yearincluding more than 15,000 malignant melanomas, the most serious form.
Et more than 25 % of exhibitions are linked to daily lifenot at the beach or leisure.