The change to Daylight Savings Time means more driving after the sun goes down. Many drivers find this aggravates existing vision problems and exposes eye conditions that had gone undiagnosed.
“One of the No. 1 complaints from patients that we have in our offices is difficulty driving at night,” says Sue Lowe, O.D., chair of the AOA’s Health Promotions Committee.
Patients are concerned because they are having a difficult time seeing in these dim conditions. Complaining of distracted glare from both the sun and oncoming headlights. Many of them experience a sensitivity to the intensely high discharge of light, especially those with cataracts or glaucoma.
Night myopia is uncorrected myopia, which may be a possible cause. It has to do with they way light is refracted onto the retina. The increased pupil size allows unfocused light rays to enter the eye, making it difficult to properly focus. Typically caused by a combination of factors, slight nearsightedness being one of them.
If you encounter any problems with your vision it is important to visit your eye doctor. Here are some tips for driving at night from the American Optometric Association:
•Never look directly at an oncoming vehicle, regardless of the type of headlights it has.
•Clean a dirty, streaked or fogged windshield, outside and inside, to reduce glare and increase visibility.
•Replace windshield wipers as necessary.
•Turn off inside lights and turn down dashboard lights to the minimum level to cut down on glare from lights that you are not looking at or toward.
•Consider prescription eyeglass lenses with anti-reflection coating to minimize distracting light from car dashboards, street lamps and other vehicles.
If an oncoming vehicle’s headlights seem too bright, or if the driver does not dim his or her high beams, ease off the gas, try not to look directly at the car’s lights and maintain your position in your travel lane by monitoring the lane marker or fog line until the offending vehicle passes.