How does your eyesight affect driving?
Eye problems and changes can cause significant hindrance in our day-to-day life, apart from the vision clarity. It also affects your driving abilities. The risk of eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, can cost the privilege of driving by affecting your vision clarity.
Even when you get prescription glasses, some environmental problems like glare can make driving a bit tricky for you. If you experience any vision challenges, you must seriously not consider driving as it can cause fatal risk.
What vision changes affect driving?
Driving can not only affect your life but millions of others. As a driver, you must take complete responsibility for other drivers, dogs, cats, pedestrians, and kids that cross the path. Any changes in the vision can complicate things on the road.
As we age, our eyesight weakens simultaneously and makes it challenging for us to see things clearly. It’s a common phenomenon affecting every adult in the world, often correct using designer online glasses. Although the change is natural and you get used to wearing glasses, making a similar shift to your routine driving activities can be a little tricky.
Here’s what people over or at the age of 60 often struggle with –
Road signs – The road sign’s shape and colors can turn unclear, making you unsure of what to do at those moments.
Glare – Unwanted reflected light from oncoming headlights, billboards, and others are often brightly lit. It often leads to sudden blindness for a moment and unable to see anything clearly in their presence.
Peripheral Vision – What you could easily feel at the corner of your eyes won’t be possible anymore. You might have to turn your heads to see objects coming from your side.
Colour – Light sensitivity is also a common effect of vision change. You might get confused between the traffic light turning red or green.
Instrument Panels – If you are nearsighted, then looking at the speed of your vehicle can turn difficult.
Age or environment-related changes aren’t the only things that can affect safe driving. Eye diseases can also cause hindrance in driving, which can occur at almost any age.
Here are eye diseases that can affect your driving –
Cataracts – An eye condition that occurs when there’s clouding of the lens in front of the eyes. It can increase the brightness of the headlights and streetlights.
Glaucoma – Damage caused by the optic nerve causes blin spots in the central or peripheral vision.
Macular Degeneration – Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) causes gaps in the center of the visual field. You might feel objects appearing from the sides, but the front view might be difficult to see.
Retinopathy – An eye condition caused by diabetes complications, resulting in the damage of the retina can also cause central and peripheral vision loss.
Minor to major eye problems and diseases can complicate our vision. Take proper care of your eyes and consult your optometrist if you notice any changes.
8 Tips for better vision while driving
Here are some of the best tips for seeing clearly while driving –
1. Consult an optometrist – If you experience problems in seeing things clearly in low light, you must reach out to an eye care professional that’ll use special optical equipment to spot the vision error. You might be prescribed prescription night-driving glasses, even if you don’t wear glasses during the day.
2. Anti-glare glasses – Anti-glare glasses or Anti-reflective (AR) glasses come with an advanced coating that reflects or blocks the incoming glare from headlights or from the surrounding area, to offer a sharper driving vision. The anti-glare glasses are also helpful with eliminating eye problems often caused due to glare, such as itchiness, eye-strain, headache, blurred vision and more.
3. Use teardrops – If you undergo dry-eyes syndrome, then consult your optometrist and treat it immediately. Dry eyes can result in light scattering which isn’t helpful for driving.
4. Repair – Don’t let your car make sounds instead repair it if there’s any problem with sound. Keeping the care in correct working condition can eliminate various problems.
5. Keep your car clean – No one admires a dirty car, certainly not your vision. Keeping your headlights, windows, and mirrors clean before driving can significantly help.
6. Built-in night-vision cars – If you are planning to buy a new car and only if you can afford it, then we’ll recommend getting a model with built-in night-vision systems. Some cars use an infrared camera to identify people, animals, and things to alert you in case of any risk by projecting an image on the dashboard or windshield.
7. Use contact lenses – Contacts are convenient for a natural and unobstructed view of the road while driving with fewer distortions. It enhances your seeing and driving ability.
8. Eye surgery – If you are looking for a permanent solution for improving your vision for driving, then LASIK eye surgery can be a great solution.
You can get quality anti-glare glasses at your friendly neighborhood, Specscart. Every prescription and non-prescription glasses come with a fully loaded coating of anti-glare, anti-UV, and anti-scratch for FREE.
