Driving At Night? Here’s What You Need To Know
Driving at night is a challenge in itself. The distracting headlight glares do more harm than good. And when you throw eye problems such as myopia or presbyopia into the mix, night driving becomes even more dangerous.
Nighttime driving is much more demanding and stressful than rolling down the roads in the daylight. No matter if you’ve got 20/20 vision or not, you must take the potential hazards of nighttime driving into careful consideration.
Visual safety on the road is always important. But, you have to be extra watchful when driving vehicles at dusk given that most road accidents occur during the night.
If you also have questions such as, “how do I drive safely at night, or are there anti-glare glasses for driving, you are in for a treat.
The struggles of driving at night
Having trouble seeing in the dark is common to everyone around the world. Our eyes are not designed to see perfectly in low-light conditions. This is what makes nighttime driving even more difficult.
When you are not able to see the upcoming turns and obstacles clearly, you become more prone to accidents. Also, due to low light levels in the night, our pupils dilate to let in more light so, if you have a focusing error, the dilated pupils will only accentuate it causing a blur.
Headlight glares
The blinding light coming from the headlights of other vehicles is the most common problem that makes driving at night unsafe. The headlights were designed to enhance visual safety at night but they seem to be doing the opposite.
Driving with presbyopic eyes
Presbyopia is a vision-related problem in people over 40 wherein the person loses the focusing ability for near vision. If you have this vision error, your eyes will struggle to see the close-up objects such as the dashboard, odometer, GPS and center console. This isn’t what you want when you are aiming for a safe driving experience.
Blurry distant objects or myopia
Myopia or shortsightedness is another big factor that contributes to the potential risks associated with driving at night. In this condition, the distant objects appear somewhat blurry to you. Not being able to see the road signs, oncoming turns or the pedestrians are as dangerous for you as it is for the people and other vehicles on the road.
Night blindness
It is the poor visual acuity at night or low light settings. It is as bad as myopia or presbyopia as it hampers your visual capabilities in the dark. This disorder can be caused due to myopia, cataracts, or glaucoma.
How to improve night driving?
Even when you have good night vision, not everybody you are sharing the road with has the same. Thus, we all have to be careful to minimise the risk of accidents. Here are the things you can do to improve your night driving experience.
1. Wear anti-reflective glasses
If you wear prescription glasses, choose the one that has an anti-reflective solution on its lenses. These glasses will eliminate the reflections from oncoming headlights or streetlights that can obstruct your vision.
Anti-reflective lenses will let in 100% visible light so that it is focused properly on the retina and gives you the best vision possible.
Glare can be just as bad in the daylight as it is during the night. Wearing polarised sunglasses when the sun is out will give you a better daytime driving experience. You can also get these polarised sunglasses online from us at Specscart.
2. Clean the windshield and mirrors
Cleanliness is the simplest safety measure that is so often overlooked. While you may not notice the dirty windshield in the daylight it will only make driving difficult for you at the night.
The dirt and smudges on your car’s windshield and mirrors will block your field of vision raising the events of accidents and mishappenings. So before you take your car on the road, make sure the mirrors and windows are clean so you get the perfect view of the road ahead.
3. Clean your lenses
Just like the dust and dirt can stick to your car’s windows, your glasses lenses are no exception. With smudged lenses, you can’t expect a clear view and a safe driving experience.
To do away with this problem, make sure you check your lenses before you set out for driving or have lens cleaning moistened wipes handy for a quick touch-up now and then.
4. Avoid smoking
Smoking harms every single organ in your body and that includes your eyes as well. Studies show that smokers may also develop vision conditions such as cataracts or age-related macular degeneration. Cataracts are the clouding of the eye lens that is also responsible for poor night vision or night blindness.
5. Dim the dashboard light
Too bright dashboard lighting makes it hard for your eyes to adjust to the darkness on the road. So, when you are driving at night, dim your dashboard so that your eyes adjust easily and they don’t get distracted from the road.
6. Keep a safe distance from other vehicles
To reduce the possibility of bumping into the vehicles ahead of you, try and keep a safe distance from them. Also, if you spot a car driving too close behind you, let it pass first.
You can only be careful with your driving, other drivers may not be as cautious as you. When you distance yourself from other vehicles on the road, your eyes will be less affected by the bright headlights.
The takeaway
Since driving at night is a risky business, we must take all the necessary precautions to dodge the miss-happenings on the road. Whether you wear glasses or not, you can always benefit from a nice pair of anti-reflective glasses. Even when you’re buying online glasses for prescription, they must have an anti-reflective coating to make the nighttime driving experience super comfortable.
