Night driving glasses - anti-glare

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Chubber

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Having just returned from trip to Scotland which by necessity involved driving at night, (something I now do infrequently), I found I was troubled with the glare of oncoming LED type headlamps.

Advertisements for tinted night driving glasses seem to offer miraculous results at relatively modest cost.

Does anyone have any opinions based on personal experience they are willing to offer?
 
How old are your glasses. Fogging around light sources is often a symptom of scuffs and scratches. This can be simple wear and tear of a minor nature that you can't see by inspecting the surface of the lenses.

As to high tech costings I would be dubious. As an astronomer the only real difference I've noticed is between coated and uncoated optics. Better coatings may last longer but the difference in what you see is barely noticeable if at all.
 
Just a further question. Is the glare just LED oncoming headlights, most headlights or all oncoming lights, also how's the glare from both sodium [orange] streetlights and LED streetlights?
 
I need prescription glasses. When I have to drive at night I wear prescription driving glasses and find them very useful.

[EDIT: tinted prescription driving glasses]

I tried some clip on tinted lenses first and they helped. These I gave to a friend when I got my prescription glasses. He finds them very useful.

The only worry with these lenses is how they will be regarded by insurance companies. Some people suspect that an insurance company might try to claim them to be ‘sun glasses’ and attempt to avoid paying a claim. Having a well-advertised product from a high street vendor might help a little.
 
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Just a further question. Is the glare just LED oncoming headlights, most headlights or all oncoming lights, also how's the glare from both sodium [orange] streetlights and LED streetlights?
Just certain headlights as in 'Gosh! Those are bright...' exacerbated by wet roads and rain on the windscreen. On the whole street lighting is not problematical.
 
I have a feeling your issues are related to the cataract surgery, I had the same op about two years ago on my left eye only, and suffer from the same night-time glare issues you describe. I avoid driving at night, which obviously isn't always possible.
 
I have a feeling your issues are related to the cataract surgery, I had the same op about two years ago on my left eye only, and suffer from the same night-time glare issues you describe. I avoid driving at night, which obviously isn't always possible.
I
I have a feeling your issues are related to the cataract surgery, I had the same op about two years ago on my left eye only, and suffer from the same night-time glare issues you describe. I avoid driving at night, which obviously isn't always possible.
I’ve not had cataract surgery and there are plenty of headlights out there now that are too bright for me! They need to be banned!!
 
The problem for me at least, is it's the left eye that had the op, I have no idea how relevant that is, being the furthest from oncoming headlights, just that I get a glare in the peripheral vision of that eye which pretty much makes it useless for a second or so, doesn't feel at all comfortable from a driving awareness POV, hence I avoid driving at night whenever possible.
 
It may simply be that modern LED headlights are brighter than other sources on the road at night - newer cars with brighter LED lamps, unaged headlamp lenses and better silvering on the reflectors. The contrast between light and dark will be greater so the constant adaptation between bright and dark will be harder work.
Wear anything tinted and it will knock the edge off the bright sources, make driving less tiring and stressful. The added hazard must be that tints will affect your entire field of view so at times make something on the edge of visibility in the dark effectively invisible.
You are choosing a trade off between risks.
If it helps you driving on motorways and dual carriageways where most all the danger comes from other, moving and lit up vehicles, that sounds sensible.
On urban streets where there will be pedestrians, on rural backroads where there could be people walking in the road after dark - not necessarily by choice - or in conditions like fog where a car's tail lights can be at the limit of visibility, I think you would be less able to see and avoid some hazards.

I can only say that my wife was an optometrist for many years but doesn't wear tinted glasses for driving at night even though she finds it rather hard work as we're getting older.

Edit - I asked her. Answer: Bad Idea. What's dim becomes invisible. Everybody complains about bright, bluer lights. It's about light scattering. Everybody with cataracts finds it a pain. But tints - bad idea.
Lobbying for lights to be kept low down on cars is good. A tall SUV with bright LED lights mounted high up is hard work for everyone else.
 
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That works for me. I'm extremely dubious about any claim that reducing the light reaching your eyes by wearing "driving glasses" can make for "better" visibility.
They can make it seem better, but whether that's of any benefit or not seems to be a moot point.
 
Just to chip in an observation. I once hit a stationary unlit car in the fast lane while riding my motorbike on a quiet motorway at 10 o'clock at night. I used up what were left of my 9 lives that night.
Even on motorways and dual carriageways, losing perception in the dark spaces has a risk because there may be things there that shouldn't be. Shed tyres and exhaust systems are more common than tarmac coloured Audi TTs.
 
Just to chip in an observation. I once hit a stationary unlit car in the fast lane while riding my motorbike on a quiet motorway at 10 o'clock at night. I used up what were left of my 9 lives that night.
Even on motorways and dual carriageways, losing perception in the dark spaces has a risk because there may be things there that shouldn't be. Shed tyres and exhaust systems are more common than tarmac coloured Audi TTs.
British bike? The lights on my old bikes were like glow worms. I'm convinced that the LED lights I have for my bicycle give a better light!
The Japanese bikes weren't much better going back either.
 
Aprillia Falco - so Italian.
Twin halogen dip beam.
I doubt many bikes or cars for that matter throw enough of a beam beyond 50 yards to be able to see an unlit low contrast object when there's no street lights or indirect light from other traffic. We ride and drive at 70 trusting the road to be clear but you need over 100m visibility to emergency stop at that speed.
I got unlucky. I was focussed on the police patrol car stopped on the hard shoulder, unmarked except the red and blue lights. Positioned myself in the fast lane to be as far away as I could from why ever they might be stopped. I never even saw the car. Just "bang". Like being hit in the head with a sledgehammer, next thing I knew I was trying to get to my knees on the road only to find I was still sliding.
 
Try cleaning and I mean proper cleaning the inside of the windscreen. Autoglym do one it really makes a difference. Also do the same product on outside windscreen and wiper blades
Most of the glare will go and the window will be less likely to steam up
 
On a driving forum I frequent this topic was discussed recently. One piece of advice which apparently helps is to look away slightly and focus on the nearside kerb when you sense over bright lights coming towards you.
Hoo-ray for some common sense.
Having done a fair bit of driving in the dark recently I find that it is mainly vans that dazzle. Their lights are higher & they often have weight in the back which makes it even worse.
Then you have those drivers that don't dip their lights until the last second.
 

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