Dark roads

[Hitforsix]

I'm 70 now. I had to drive yesterday in the dark over c50 mile of country roads. Not something I'm used to nowadays.

I realised that some car drivers keep their full lights on as they approach. Lorries passed me at over 50mph (safely) with their multi lights.

What I ask is two things. One, do 'ageing' find it easy to drive in the dark? If so how? And secondly, are 'ageing. people like me' like who manage but don't find it easy? If so, what to the do?

I was on the A5 Cannock to the Wirral A41

[Den]

Big problem now is the car headlights and commercial vehicles have brighter lights that seem to penetrate the rear of your eyes. 
I met a driver wearing special glasses for the sole purpose of cutting out glare. 
I used to enjoy night driving but not so much now and yes so many cars do not dip their headlights and use their fog lights. Pain !! 
den

[peterjl]

Over the last 5 years ( I am now 74) I have found driving in the dark more and more difficult.

i now actively avoid driving in the dark. I think it’s just an age thing.

[colin]

With age many people have reduced vision at night, often due to pupils not reacting as well to changes in light, add in the increasing numbers of cars some of which have badly adjusted beams and/or illegal lamps, and you will find it more difficult.

[Derek Uzzell]

A GOOGLE-search on age driving at night will provide plenty of information on this subject.

Humans are not nocturnal animals and there's a huge amount of data-loss when driving in the dark. I never enjoyed it even when I was 60 years younger, and I certainly don't like doing it nowadays.

'Anti-glare' driving glasses have been around for as long as I can remember. This Which? article refers to them (and night-driving generally).

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/are-night-driving-glasses-safe-to-wear-a20Q17g8xnyD

[Basil]

I don't have particular problem with night driving and I don't need to wear glasses for driving having been able to reach the required standard without. However I do use distance glasses to help to combat eye strain. At my last eye test I decided to try a prescription lens for  night driving and I have to say the benefit from them, for me, is quite remarkable. Even the glare from high beam lights is diminished. They are, to look at, a completely clear lens so do not restrict light input to the eyes. Whilst it does not completely stop all lights from dazzling it is a vast improvement.

I assume all opticians can supply them but for information I got mine from Boots.

Bas

[Brian Kirby]

1 hour ago, Basil said:

...................... At my last eye test I decided to try a prescription lens for  night driving and I have to say the benefit from them, for me, is quite remarkable. Even the glare from high beam lights is diminished. They are, to look at, a completely clear lens so do not restrict light input to the eyes. ..................................

Bas

Basil, do you have any further details of what they are?  For instance, are they polarised?

[thecamperco.uk]

I have found that anti-glare glasses help out massively when driving during the night, it seemed to me that as i aged, the night time driving got harder, they definitely haven't combatted it entirely but i feel the anti-glare glasses definitely offer some assistance.

[laimeduck]

Interesting subject this ...... a good few years ago I asked my optician if night driving glasses worked. He was quite adamant that they did not! "Any tinted glasses that cut the amount of light entering the eye will NOT enhance night vision"

This "Which" analysis would seem to confirm this saying in essence that yellow glasses reduce night vision. A special anti-glare coating added to prescription glasses may help, but only if you already wear glasses

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/are-night-driving-glasses-safe-to-wear-a20Q17g8xnyD

Jeremy

[colin]

38 minutes ago, laimeduck said:

A special anti-glare coating added to prescription glasses may help, but only if you already wear glasses

You've just reminded me, ten years or so ago I had glasses without anti-glare coating and I found it easier to drive without them. Since then my glasses have always had anti-glare and are much better.

[BruceM]

I suspect each person's experience will be different. In my own case, the issue was not so much driving at night, it was being repeatedly blinded by oncoming headlights that immediately knocked out my night vision. This became especially tiring when there was a queue of traffic flashing by in the opposite direction.

So I now wear a pair of polarised ‘yellow’ driving glasses. I don’t wear them at dusk, but once it’s dark I find that oncoming vehicle lights even on full beam no longer blind me ( and we know how painful that can be) and I have a more consistent and consequently clearer and less tiring view of the road and traffic. Of course it’s necessary to get used to watching a ‘yellow’ world although its interesting to note that whilst some oncoming headlights appear yellow some still appear white. I assume they’re HID lights?

[Brian Kirby]

What intrigued me was Basil's comment above that: "At my last eye test I decided to try a prescription lens for  night driving and I have to say the benefit from them, for me, is quite remarkable. Even the glare from high beam lights is diminished. They are, to look at, a completely clear lens so do not restrict light input to the eyes."

Note that Basil specifically says the lenses are not tinted, but are "to look at, a completely clear lens".  Hence my query to Basil (as yet unanswered) as to whether they might be polarised lenses. 

I currently have two things that are becoming increasingly irritating when driving.  First, a debilitating windscreen reflection from the top of the dashboard which, when in bright sun, almost eliminates my view ahead when driving into patches of shade, and second, the above problem with badly aligned and excessively bright headlamps on oncoming (and not infrequently following) traffic.

So, I've been looking around for a solution.  The best and most convincing advice I could find was clear, polarised, lenses.  As the polarising element is a coating, the resulting lens is not completely clear, but the tint is so slight as to be almost unnoticeable.

A number of apparently reliable sources advocated these lenses, which can be prescription or plain, as being particularly effective at diminishing glare inducing dashboard reflections with the bonus that they also reduce the night-time dazzle from oncoming traffic.

I suspect, from his description, that these may be what Basil has - hence my query.  Be interesting to find out.  Light, without dazzle, at the end of the tunnel?  🙂 

[Basil]

Hi Brian,

To answer your previous question, sorry for delay I don't watch the forum continuously, they are not polarised they are, apparently, a dedicated lens for night driving. There is no discernable tint looking through them and they appear clear. However looking at them in daylight from different angles there seems to be a blue hue that is definitely not apparent looking through them.

I happened to notice a comparison notice when I had a routine eye test at Boots and enquired about them. I was offered a try out with the option to return them within a given time if I didn't find them beneficial.

As I said to look at they appear clear but, for me, they do assist to the extent that I now find driving without them at night more difficult than previously. I guess it's not realising how affected you are until you try both.

Bas

[malc d]

Brighter, dazzling headlights, have been recognised as an issue.

Back in January is was reported on SKY that motoring organisations were urging the government to take action on "dazzling headlights" which "are causing an increasing risk of accidents".

An RAC survey said 85% of drivers complained of glare - and vehicles that sit higher on the road, such as SUVs, add to the problem.

Although, in my younger days I preferred long night drives, especially on holiday, with little traffic, I now avoid night driving as far as possible. My pet hate are people who drive around with headlights AND foglights on even on the clearest nights. As I understand it, it's illegal to use fog lights unnecessarily anyway.

As with any other activity, I don't think of any particular age at which you should give anything up.

Ability to drive safely at night, and still enjoy it, is down to eyesight, not age.

🙂