Corrective lenses?

[peter_964rs]

Are there any rules in mtorsport over wearing glasses and/or contact lenses? I don't wear either but might need to, now that I've got a bit older and things are slightly more blurry.....

[anonymous-user]

well Jacques Villeneuve wore glasses under his helmet as does Paul Tracy and erm, ahem, well......me!! its a little uncomfortable until the helmet padding takes shape but its fine after that.

[woody]

Ralph Schumacher wears contact lenses, Sebastian Bourdais (F3000/Sportscars/Champ Cars) wears glasses and so does Mike Jordan.

>> Edited by woody on Monday 19th January 09:40

[peter_964rs]

Assuming worst case i.e. a crash, would you be better off wearing glasses or contacts? I assume glasses are worse in a crash because they could shatter and get into the eye; converseley, what happens if the contacts go wonky in a race, there's nothing you can do about it! (an ex-g/f thought she'd lost some new expensive contacts and we spent and increasingly paniced 30 mins searching the carpet for it before we discovered it had slid up behind her eyelid!).

[Graham]

Glasses can steam up, where as contact lenses wouldnt.

but having said that i wear glasses with no real problems.. blind as a bat without them

G

[daydreamer]

peter_964rs said:

Assuming worst case i.e. a crash, would you be better off wearing glasses or contacts? I assume glasses are worse in a crash because they could shatter and get into the eye.

I wear an old pair of glasses, which are very light and quite comfortable.

re above - at the moment of impact most people have their eyes firmly shut . That coupled with lightweight plastic lenses, you shouldn't have too much trouble. (I had a road accident a couple of years ago (no crash helmet) and bent the steering wheel with my forhead, my glasses taking the full impact - I still wear them, which is a testament to how tough modern specs are!)

[apguy]

The official word according to the MSA Blue Book is:

E 2.9.6.4
(c)Spectacles should be fitted with shatterproof lenses. Contact lenses if worn should be of the "soft" variety.

Personally I wear gas-permeable contact lens (which are the "hard" variety). Glasses under a helmet can make life uncomfortable, you have to worry about misted glasses as well as a visor. You field of vision is limited to the edge of your glasses. That and the fact that I found it damned uncomfortable with glasses in a helmet due to the pressure of the arms on the side of your head!

[gavmitchell]

I wore glasses while karting and for 1 year racing cars. They do easily steam up in wet / misty conditions. You also find that although you can see straight ahead, if you look out of the corner of your eye it is distorted so peripheral vision suffers. Got daily contact lenses now and they are perfect. Perfect vision, nothing can shatter and no steaming up. Probably helped win a championship this year.