Night driving glasses

[carreauchompeur]

Yes, the time has come.

I'm increasingly struggling with clear vision when driving at night. Oncoming headlights really affect me. I could start a rant about modern LEDs, but will cut to the chase:

My eyesight isn't too bad although I have an astigmatism.

Has anyone tried the Zeiss DriveSafe or other branded glasses for night driving?
I asked in Specsavers and they just showed me some awful yellow lenses...

[ATM]

A few years ago now when living in the countryside I decided lights were too bright. I wear specs. I bought some really cheap yellow glasses to wear over my specs. Like safety goggles. They do work but as expected just reduce light going into the eyes so everything gets darker slightly. So I'm not recommending them.

I now live in a town so with street lighting it's less of an issue for me. I'm not sure I even know where these are now if I wanted to wear them.

[JuanCarlosFandango]

I found ordinary reading glasses made all the difference. It isn't the brightness of the lights, but your eyes are straining to pick up limited light so are extra sensitive. Same as when you wake up at night and suddenly turn a light on. With a pair of reading glasses your eyes are more relaxed so get less tired and are less sensitive to sudden l

Of course proper prescription glasses would be better but if it's only driving at night then I'd try a pair of cheap reading glasses you can keep in the car.

[dontlookdown]

Reading specs aren't going to work, the OP has astigmatism so will already be wearing prescription glasses.

If you do get some night glasses, please come back and share your experiences. My night vision is still ok but problems with it run in the family so I would be interested to know.how you get on.

[John D.]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

I found ordinary reading glasses made all the difference. It isn't the brightness of the lights, but your eyes are straining to pick up limited light so are extra sensitive. Same as when you wake up at night and suddenly turn a light on. With a pair of reading glasses your eyes are more relaxed so get less tired and are less sensitive to sudden l

Of course proper prescription glasses would be better but if it's only driving at night then I'd try a pair of cheap reading glasses you can keep in the car.

Sounds like you should get your eyes tested.

[The Leaper]

A month ago I had a regular eye test and I said I was thinking of getting new specs for driving. After a specific test, the optometrist agreed. I've had the new specs for maybe a couple of weeks now. They have definitely helped me with day time driving. As for night time, they have also helped too. Instead of seeing slightly fuzzy head lights and rear lights, all is crystal clear. I'd say that for me they have helped reduce the dazzling effect of modern headlights.

For background, I'm 81, did have reading glasses that I have used occasionally, but was told that I don't need them any more.

R.

[DKL]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

I found ordinary reading glasses made all the difference. It isn't the brightness of the lights, but your eyes are straining to pick up limited light so are extra sensitive. Same as when you wake up at night and suddenly turn a light on. With a pair of reading glasses your eyes are more relaxed so get less tired and are less sensitive to sudden l

Of course proper prescription glasses would be better but if it's only driving at night then I'd try a pair of cheap reading glasses you can keep in the car.

Sorry but no. For the vast majority that's awful advice, please don't follow it. A small number might just the equivalent distance prescription to the off the shelf reading glasses but if that's the case get your eyes tested and do it properly. Ready readers aren't legal for distance use anyway so in the event of an accident you could come unstuck.
Yellow lenses are equally snake oil and make no difference.
Get a proper eyetest and the appropriate distance prescription made up. Choose lenses with a good quality anti-reflection coating and you'll be fine. Some companies (Nikon, Zeiss, Essilor) do a "red" driving MAR coating which they claim is better still. If it is then it won't be much different but it can't hinder.

[RSTurboPaul]

Are there polarised but non-tinted lenses out there anywhere?

[DKL]

RSTurboPaul said:

Are there polarised but non-tinted lenses out there anywhere?

No. By their very definition a polarised lens cuts out 50% of the light so it has to be this dark. They are then tinted on top.
You can get transitions lenses which when they darken become polarised. I've used a few and they seem quite effective.

[otolith]

As you get older, the ability of your eyes to adjust to rapid changes in brightness degrades. There isn't a great deal you can do about this.

[SlimJim16v]

I've read that leaving the interior light on helps, though I've not tried it yet.

[carreauchompeur]

Interesting. I try to keep glasses and windscreen spotless which does a lot too.

[ATM]

DKL said:

Yellow lenses are equally snake oil and make no difference.

Wrong

I found them useful

As explained above I wore them over my prescription specs

[james6546]

Interesting mix of opinions.

I’m wondering what to do too as my eyesight is actually very good and I don’t need glasses at all, but I really struggle with dazzling at night.

Possibly due to me used to having astigmatism that I had laser eye surgery for about 10 years ago.

I’m sometimes close to slowing down when a car comes the other way, like an OAP!

[phil y]

I’ve worn DriveSafe for years, pretty much since they launched. I found a vast improvement in comfort over standard anti reflective coating. They’re good to the point that I’ll avoid wearing my contact lenses if I’ll be driving after dark, as they make such a difference.
They’re also very good in overcast/rainy conditions in my experience.

[ATM]

As explained above but maybe not clear enough. When I lived in the countryside I also found myself feeling blinded by cars appearing in front with ridiculously bright lights. I even ended up commenting on here and involved in a discussion about it. Yellow glasses were suggested. So I bought some really cheap awful looking things from amazon or something. Let's say less than a tenner. They looked like safety goggles, awful basically. They may have even been suggested in the conversation on here, can't remember. And these did help Me.

Fast forward a few years because I now live in a town or city. The bright lights problem isn't a problem for me now so I have not worn these yellow lensed safety goggles for years. I don't even know where they are or if I still have them.

So for me the problem manifested itself when I was in a dark place. Then the bright headlights of a surprise vehicle head on would really dazzle me. If I knew one was coming I would brace for it by squinting a bit. But that's just using your eyelids to block out some of the light.

In a town now I am never in a dark place because there is always background light. Either from street lamps or houses etc.

So I think there might be some merit to the suggestion of having the interior light lit while driving. Basically you are trying to reduce the difference between the bright light which appears suddenly and the amount of ambient light your eye is currently adjusted to. However with poor headlights on your car - I have a couple of oldish Porsches with basic halogen lights - you might not be able to see much when travelling alone, so no other cars around, on a dark country lane which is all basically pitch black, if you have the interior light illuminated.

[Snow and Rocks]

I had similar concerns recently and went to the optician - she said my prescription was fine but I decided to get a new pair of glasses while I was there.

The new glasses were transformative - despite seeming OK my old glasses were actually covered in tiny near invisible scratches which was obvious scattering the light from oncoming headlights. Thankfully everything is back to normal with the new ones.

Might be worth a try if you haven't changed your glasses for a while.

[DKL]

ATM said:

DKL said:

Yellow lenses are equally snake oil and make no difference.

Wrong

I found them useful

As explained above I wore them over my prescription specs

Absolutely not wrong. They are clinically and practically proven to make no difference whatsoever . Both optical peer reviewed papers and motoring press agree. Whatever you notice is only going to happen in built up generally lit areas where there isn't an issue anyway. In the dark they simply add a light reduction filter which obviously is the last thing you want.

[ATM]

DKL said:

In the dark they simply add a light reduction filter which obviously is the last thing you want.

Hang on

Would a light reduction filter prevent me from feeling dazzled by bright lights?

[DKL]

james6546 said:

Interesting mix of opinions.

I’m wondering what to do too as my eyesight is actually very good and I don’t need glasses at all, but I really struggle with dazzling at night.

Possibly due to me used to having astigmatism that I had laser eye surgery for about 10 years ago.

This will add a degree of optical media haze on top of everything else. Depending on how old you are you have a windscreen, glasses if you use them (but even if not there maybe some refractive blur), corneal haze from PRK or the like, lenticular haze and vitreous haze all adding to the reduction of incident light at your retina. Even if the optics are absolutely spot on you can't remove the media loss hence where you are. Without a doubt it bothers some more than others even at the same level. Cataract surgery solves the only issue you can fix. You won't get ,or want, a vitrectomy just for the aging process.