Your vision is responsible for around 90% of the information you use for driving, so it has the greatest impact on your safety behind the wheel.
There are common vision contributors to driving risk that you should be aware of. Do you have:
- trouble recognising details on road signs or number plates
- difficulty judging the distance of oncoming vehicles, particularly at night
- trouble seeing clearly in changing light conditions, e.g. from day to dusk to night
- visual sensitivity to oncoming headlights
- need to move your head to see in side mirrors or read your dashboard clearly
You can easily reduce your driving risk by:
- Having your vision regularly checked
- Protecting your eyes from glare
- Wearing your glasses or contact lenses when driving, they improve vision clarity and depth perception
- Investigate progressive lenses, they smoothly improve vision at every distance, from reading road signs in the distance to checking your dashboard
- Adding an anti-reflective coating to your glasses to reduce glare and distortion from oncoming headlights
- Polarised sunglasses eliminate distracting glare from surfaces including roads, other cars, and your dashboard
Uneasy driving after dark?
You are not alone. Problems with night vision are common and can affect your confidence behind the wheel.
At night, your eyes adjust to the dark by expanding your pupil to let in more light. As your pupil enlarges, any vision imperfections will become more noticeable.
Night-time darkness impacts how well you can judge your surroundings, your ability to distinguish between objects, your peripheral vision and ability to distinguish colour.
To be more comfortable driving at night don’t stare directly into oncoming headlights and make sure your windscreen is clean – inside and out.
Book an appointment with one your optometrist to assess your vision, they can offer solutions that may increase your driving confidence.
