We live in an age where getting from one place to another has never been easier. Need to pick up something from the store? Hop into your car. Need to visit a sick friend? No, problem, your car will get you there. Need to move stuff from one area to another? Again – those four wheels on your automobile is the way to go.
However, in order to drive safely and properly, one needs perfect eyesight and the ability to reflexively prevent a possible accident. Day driving presents dangers such as glares from the sun; while driving at night is especially dangerous. It requires special visual attention and focus owing to the glare of lights against the darkness, not to mention the darkness itself. At night, ones pupils dilate and even the best sighted people become short-sighted, and tend to see more glare and halos.
One also seems to have less peripheral vision. All these factors together result in visual fatigue and as statistics prove, even though night driving actually occurs less than day driving – both in time driven and in the amount of drivers on the road – close to half of road deaths occur while at night. In both cases, many deaths occur because drivers claim to to have been faces by a harsh glare that prevented them from seeing clearly.
So, what is the answer to protecting our eyes in both conditions?
First, one must wear sunglasses during the day – whether prescription or non-prescription. Aside from protecting ones eyes against harmful AVA/UVB rays, sunglasses should also include an anti-reflective coating to protect ones eyes from glares. The color lens also helps to enhance the visibility of contrast and depth perception, which ensures sharper visuals, less haze, and all round clarity.
For people who wear eyeglasses and cannot think of constantly having to swap their regular prescription eyeglasses for prescription sunglasses whenever going out, they can have photochromic lenses fitted into the frames. These lenses play the same role as sunglasses by turning dark outdoors and returning to regular lenses indoors, but you must check that they have been coated with the appropriate anti-glare protection.
Note: Following surgery, patients need to be extra vigilant while driving as the operation could result in seeing a halo effect – especially at night. Others may find that eye surgery drastically improves their night driving ability. In the end, each case is individual and should be viewed and treated according to its specific needs.
If you already wear prescription eyeglasses, a thorough eye examination may prove that you actually need separate, stronger lenses for night driving. If this is diagnosed, immediately purchase the new eyeglasses and ensure to have them coated with anti-glare protection. You should ALWAYS wear these glasses for night driving, without them you are a danger to yourself and others while on the road. If you do not generally wear glasses, you may want to buy eyeglasses with placebo lenses, but coated with the anti-glare tint. One of the most important points to remember when you buy glasses for driving is that cheap eyeglasses may be just that – cheap – so invest in a high quality pair of glasses frames.
Hillary Glaser is a social networking specialist and expert in cross-media promotion, currently working on promoting prescription eyeglasses. She is the Director of Marketing and Special Projects for GlassesUSA – the easiest way to buy glasses online, which now offers free shipping on all US orders with the code FreeShip10.