08/11/2024
Tips for night driving
Now that the clocks have fallen back we find ourselves driving more in the dark. This can be challenging for some people and is not helped by other drivers not dipping their high beams !!!
It’s pretty common to see halos around lights, but if you have significant astigmatism, the halos look more like comets with lines of light radiating out from the center.
In addition to astigmatism, some people have night myopia, where your vision automatically worsens after dark, especially if you have a prescription and your glasses or contacts aren’t up to date.
You can lessen the blurring effects of the eye condition by taking these steps:
Check your prescription and glasses-
An out of date prescription or old scratched glasses will reduce your vision especially at night. Some people also wear contact lenses that don’t fully address their astigmatism, so if you’re having vision problems at night, it’s essential to fix astigmatism with a toric lens.
Glasses are a good alternative to contacts because they’re easier to customize for astigmatism. They can also have an anti reflective coating added to cut down glare.
You may be better using your glasses for night driving. Either way, the first step to better vision is making sure your prescription is up to date.
Cataracts-
Cataracts, where the lens in the eye goes cloudy, develop gradually and usually start to affect your vision around age 60. When you have both cataracts and astigmatism, it doubles your trouble driving at night.
Cataract surgery removes cloudy lenses, replacing them with clear, artificial ones. This procedure improves your overall vision, especially at night.
Clean your lights, windscreen and glasses-
Having a clean, streak free windscreen is going to improve the view. Fill your washer bottle with the proper washer fluid and make sure your lights aren’t dirty or the plastic hasn’t gone cloudy. You can now get products to clean the cloudy plastic lights to restore their brightness. The same goes for your glasses, clean them with a proper spray and clean cloth. Smudged, greasy glasses will affect your vision at night
Try contrast night-driving glasses-
You can buy over-the-counter glasses specifically for night driving. To reduce glare, these inexpensive glasses feature yellow lenses to filter vision-blurring blue light. May people who have tried them found them useful.
However, remember - they don’t correct your vision.
Stick to familiar areas-
If you’re uncomfortable driving at night, try to stick to familiar areas if you must go out in the evening. It’s not worth risking your safety or the safety of others to drive when you can’t see clearly.
