Having trouble driving at night? Driving glasses might be the answer

Most people think of sunglasses when we talk about driving glasses. When driving during the day, they help to dull the bright conditions, making it easier for you to see. But driving glasses are much more than that, helping you with night driving as well.

The major component of any driving frame is the anti-glare or anti-reflective coating. While it does a great job of protecting your eyes from eye strain through constant computer use, they are also perfect for driving. Your eyes can be distracted by a lot of sources - through glare from oncoming traffic, wet roads, or even through the rearview mirror.

Signs you need driving glasses

Do you face any of the following issues while driving at night?

1. Difficulty in judging distance - Some people’s visual clarity decreases a bit at night, they struggle to judge the visual distance in low light conditions. This happens due to misplaced judgment of colours and contrasts. This can be ascertained with a regular eye exam. It is recommended to get one done once every two years.

2. Eye fatigue - If you drive long distances at a stretch, your eyes will feel tired and fatigued. Combined with the effects of constant computer use, our eyes can be quite vulnerable, especially at night. The trick is to give your eyes a break and rest.

3. Merging effect - Sometimes when you are driving at night, the glare from different light sources can get merged with one another, like headlights and streetlights. With anti-glare lenses, you can nip this problem in the bud.

4. Distracting reflections - If you wear glasses while driving (without any protective coating) you may have noticed a dazzling effect on your lens for a second through headlights from oncoming traffic. Even billboards and advertisements can form ghost images on the lenses. Even without Plano lenses, these lights can be really distracting.

How do anti-glare lenses work?

The purpose of anti-glare lenses is simple - they stop the glare from reflecting off your lenses. They have a special coating that lets most of the light pass through, providing clear vision to users. Good quality anti-reflective glasses let more than 99% of light pass through. The best thing is that it can be applied to any frames, whether they are prescription glasses or non-prescription ones.

Technology has also come a long way. In the earlier days, the coating used to start peeling off in a few months. But now the coating process has changed, it is now a part of the actual lens itself through a complex heating procedure. When you buy new driving glasses, make sure that is a guarantee on coatings like anti-glare, anti-scratch, and anti-UV.

Do they help while driving?

The short answer is yes, especially during night time.

Our eyes are dilated during the night to let in more light. When glare from a source of light like headlights, street lights, reflected light off wet roads, etc. falls on our eyes, it can cause momentary blindness or distraction. The pupils have to work extra hard to limit the amount of light reaching your retina.

Yellow tinted glasses

A lot of people go for yellow-tinted lenses for better visual clarity while driving. These are similar to “shooter glasses” which are worn by hunters to help with their game. Yellow lenses provide great contrast, especially during overcast conditions. They also block some of the blue light wavelengths from the sun's rays. But it is not a great idea to use them as driving lenses, especially for night driving. Tinted lenses of any colour can impede vision in low light conditions.

As we grow older, our eyesight weakens, affecting our day-to-day activities. Not just prescription, the eyes also start losing their flexibility. According to experts, the amount of time taken to recover from glare can increase by times from the age of 15 to 65. This makes regular eye checkups and proper glasses necessary. Even if you wear just designer glasses for fashion, you can get them with the right protective coatings.