Driving At Night

Driving at night

Driving at dusk is extremely demanding on the eyes. It’s important to make sure your vision can cope. 

Weather conditions to consider 

Reflections from wet roads, oncoming headlights and a dirty windscreen make driving safely more difficult. Caution and preparation are needed. Keep your windshield and mirrors clean and free of streaks by wiping them with a microfibre cloth. 
Understanding how vision changes in low light conditions and taking proactive steps can improve safety. Headlights contain LED or HID cause glare and can temporarily affect drivers. 

Book your appointment 

The first step to take is to check if you need an eye examination. You should be having an appointment every two years. 
Peripheral vision and depth perception are much less in low light. This gives you less time to react to hazards in the road. Keeping your headlights clean, removing streaks or watermarks and lowering your dashboard lights can help. Taking breaks on short trips, lubricating eye drops and maintaining a comfortable posture can reduce eye strain. 

What glasses should I wear for driving at night? 

There are different types of lenses, prescription with anti-reflective coating, over glasses and specialised lenses with contrast enhancing tint which improve your ability to concentrate and reduce fatigue at night.
Road lighting levels at cause the pupil of the eye to become larger during night driving than in bright conditions. The increase in pupil size brings out existing small errors in focussing, causing a blur. If you see this blur, your spectacles may need changing and your prescription updated. 

Avoid driving if you have cataracts 

Discomfort among older drivers is commonly caused by cataracts which produce similar effects as looking through a dirty window. Glasses do nothing to mitigate this so you may need to minimise driving at night. 

Seek an optometrist’s advice if you are unsure.