Vision and driving

Driving is one of our daily habits that requires excellent vision. High speeds, changing lighting conditions and fatigue, pose a direct risk to the safety of us, passengers or pedestrians.

Good vision = safety

Factors of good vision in driving

α. Protection against sun glare.

The sun glare, either when facing us or when its rays are reflected on the road or on the dashboard, is tiring and reduces the quality of the road image. Sunglasses remove unwanted brightness, and open the perspective of the image. Especially polarized sunglasses remove reflections from smooth surfaces (windshield, asphalt) and are the best suggestion for drivers.

b. Corrected refractive errors

Those who wear glasses or contact lenses more or less know that driving without them is dangerous, simply because they do not see the distances they should. What should be emphasized is that those who have small numbers of myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism should wear glasses while driving, even if they do not need them in the rest of their daily lives, as even a small drop in their visual acuity limits the distances at which they see clearly, especially in the afternoon and night hours. During bright days, it is recommended to wear sunglasses with our prescription (if we do not wear contact lenses)

c. Color-contrast management

For great vision quality while driving, in addition to brightness and clarity, the image color management is also important. Thus, brown or gray-green lenses in sunglasses increase contrasts and improve the image, especially in moderate brightness conditions, while gray lenses are preferred for bright sunshine as neutral filters.

Myths and misconceptions about the role of sight and glasses in driving

• I have a good car: No matter how well maintained or quality a car we have, its response depends on the driver’s reflexes, which in turn depend on our vision. The sooner we perceive the danger, the more quickly we react and the sooner we brake.
• I wear glasses only when traveling: Most accidents occur on daily, country roads, where lighting conditions are not good, roads poorly maintained and narrow, the presence of pedestrians is noticeable and the driver is more complacent due to familiarity with the road.
• My driving license does not mention the mandatory use of glasses: this does not mean anything, as our vision changes very often during our lifetime.
• Glasses for night driving: from time to time yellowish tint glasses have appeared, which have the role of increasing brightness when driving at night. While theoretically this is true, in practice if any refractive disease is not corrected (if any) and if anti-reflective coatings are not used on the lenses of the glasses, the result will probably be worse than without the use of these glasses.
• I want to use photochromic (variable darkness) lenses in my glasses: most photochromic lenses darken under the influence of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which does not penetrate the windshield. Therefore, it should be indicated to you by the optical product which partially darkens inside the car.