25% of driving is at night but 40% of accidents occur at night – and the accident death rate at night is 3 times greater.
As an optician, the #1 complaint I hear about from clients is that they have difficulty when driving at night. It has always been the case that our vision simply isn’t as good when it’s dark, but modern driving conditions are more challenging than ever.
Not only are there more cars on the road, but those cars tend to be higher up and their headlights significantly brighter. The result is an intense beam of light directly into our eyes, contrasted against a black background. No wonder our eyes can’t cope.
Fortunately, there are more technologies than ever designed with your comfort and safety in mind. In this article, we’re going to explore three ways you can reduce glare when driving at night.
#1 – A clean windscreen is a great start
This might sound obvious, but a clean windscreen can make an enormous difference to your visual comfort when driving at night. Even if your windscreen appears spotless, small patches of grease can cause light to diffract, meaning a small beam from a light source such as a headlight or street light will be amplified.
It’s a good idea to routinely wash your windscreen inside and out, as this also helps to prevent fogging. Here’s a helpful article on how to clean your windscreen without leaving any streaks.
#2 – A prescription often isn’t enough
This is a very complicated subject, but I’ll try to simplify it as best I can. We all recognise that our vision is different at night time. The reason is to do with our pupil size – this varies significantly from day to night and it changes how we focus light.
Only with an i.Scription -25x more accurate than a regular prescription – can you get optimum day and night vision. Our eye tests include assessment using the i.Profiler, which is the only equipment accurate enough to measure your i.Scription. Read more about our eye tests here.
#3 – Anti-glare glasses
Nowadays there are many types of lenses you can get in your glasses designed to improve your night vision. Zeiss, Nikon, Hoya, Jai Kudo and others have developed technologies to reduce glare.
Zeiss were first to market with DriveSafe lenses – which won product of the year from the Association of Optical Professionals when they were launched. DriveSafe lenses are designed to be worn in your everyday glasses, and are excellent for general use but really enhance your vision further when driving in poor weather or at night.
Shortly after, Hoya developed Enroute lenses – similar to DriveSafe – and Enroute Pro – more dedicated driving lenses with a noticable tint thanks to an even more effective glare filter. The extra tint also helps somewhat with bright lights in general.
Nikon’s SeeCoat Drive is unique in that this special coating can be combined with any of their other lenses. This is quite unique as it allows you to really customise your lenses. For example, you could order Nikon DigiLife lenses – some of the best lenses on the market when it comes to using a computer – and add SeeCoat Drive on top, making your glasses really versatile.
Finally, Jai Kudo’s driving lenses, DriveSense, incorporates Honeycomb technology. We’re a big fan of Honeycomb technology as it can help with so many aspects of your vision, from night driving to fluorescent lighting indoors, and has even been shown to help with migranes and dyslexia.
I hope you have found this article interesting and helpful. If you have any questions, please get in touch. You can join in the conversation on Twitter via the link below, call us on 01772 312213, or email me via rob@thespectaclefactory.com.
