Many people find driving at night challenging, with poor night vision making the task stressful and potentially dangerous. Impaired night vision can significantly affect your ability to drive safely after dark. This includes oncoming headlight glare, trouble seeing road signs, and difficulty adjusting to low-light conditions. Fortunately, there are solutions, including specialized lenses designed to improve night vision and enhance driving safety.
Our North Edmonton eye care team at Village Eye Centre discusses more below.
What Causes Poor Night Vision?
Several factors can contribute to poor night vision, including:
- Aging: As we age, the lenses in our eyes become less flexible, and our pupils don’t dilate as widely. This reduces the amount of light that reaches the retina, making it harder to see in low-light conditions.
- Cataracts: Cataracts can cause your vision to become cloudy. This can lead to difficulty seeing clearly at night or in dim lighting.
- Glare from lights: Many people experience increased sensitivity to bright lights, such as headlights or streetlights. This can make it difficult to focus on the road.
- Uncorrected refractive errors: Uncorrected nearsightedness (myopia), astigmatism, or farsightedness can make seeing in low-light conditions more challenging.
- Dry eyes: Dry eyes may cause discomfort, halos around lights, blurred vision, and worsening night driving vision.
These conditions and factors can all affect your ability to drive safely at night by reducing visual clarity, increasing glare, and decreasing your ability to see contrast.
How Poor Night Vision Affects Driving Ability
Driving at night can be challenging for anyone, but it becomes even more difficult if you have poor night vision. Common complaints include reduced contrast sensitivity, trouble adjusting to glare, and difficulty seeing details like road signs, pedestrians, or lane markings. You may find yourself:
- Slowing down more than usual because you can’t see far enough ahead
- Feeling disoriented when facing oncoming traffic due to glare from headlights
- Struggling to see obstacles on the road, such as animals, cyclists, or debris, until they are too close to react
- Missing turns or exits due to difficulty reading street signs in the dark
These issues make driving uncomfortable and can increase your risk of accidents.
How We Can Help: Lenses for Night Driving
If you struggle with night driving, specialized lenses can help improve your vision and make driving after dark safer. Several lens options may benefit you:
Anti-Reflective Coating
Lenses with an anti-reflective (AR) coating can greatly improve night vision by reducing glare from headlights, streetlights, and other light sources. The coating allows more light to pass through the lens to your eyes, improving clarity and contrast and reducing distracting reflections that make it hard to see the road.
Blue Light Filtering Lenses
People often associate blue light filtering lenses with reducing eye strain from screens. They can also lessen the impact of glare from LED headlights, which emit a significant amount of blue light. These lenses help filter out harsh light, reducing the glare and discomfort many drivers experience when facing oncoming traffic.
Progressive Lenses for Presbyopia
Progressive lenses can improve your vision at multiple distances if you have presbyopia (age-related difficulty seeing up close). They can also help while driving at night. They can even enhance your ability to see clearly while driving at night.
Progressive lenses provide a seamless transition from distance to near vision without needing multiple pairs of glasses. This will help you see the road ahead and your dashboard.
Improve Night Vision with Customized Solutions
We recommend scheduling a comprehensive eye exam to determine the best lens option for your night driving needs. During your visit to Village Eye Centre, we will assess your vision and check for any underlying conditions affecting your night vision. We will also provide personalized recommendations based on your unique visual requirements.
In addition to lenses, treatments like dry eye management or cataract surgery may also improve your night vision. By addressing the root cause of your vision difficulties, we can help you see more clearly and drive confidently, day or night.