Night Driving Glasses?

[jyl]

My eyesight is poor. My eyes don’t focus as well as they used to. I like my optometrist. My optometrist is an old-school shop in the heart of downtown Portland where little businesses are struggling to survive. I would like them to stay in business. As a result, I have so many pairs of glasses. I have distance glasses, that turn out to be good outdoors and shooting glasses. I have computer glasses, multiple pairs. I have near glasses, for time spent indoors. I have progressives, which are good at being mediocre at everything. When I have the right glasses with me, I see adequately. I seldom have the right glasses with me. This is only an irritating inconvenience, except for one situation:

Driving at night.

Here is what driving at night during the Portland winter is like. It is raining. It never stops raining. It is very dark, except where headlights are glaring and reflecting off everything wet and shiny and sparkly with splashing rain. Sometimes it rains hard, in curtains or sideways sheets.

Each time you turn onto a street you haven’t driven in a few months, it has been reconfigured. Lanes have disappeared, jumped laterally, have become something-only. You learn of this by peering at the new painted lines on the glaring, flooded, rain-pelted road. We don’t believe in signs.

Everyone is confused. Except pedestrians. They have it all figured out. They don’t pay attention to lines on the road. Those are not for them. They wear black. If drivers can’t see you, they can’t hit you. There are two kinds of pedestrians at night. The first is deaf. He wears white hearing aids, but they only help him hear his iPhone. The second is homeless, or deranged, or high. He hears things, that no-one else does, and it seems distracting.

The ninja cars come out at night. These are cars with no license plates, sometimes older and battered, or so filled with stuff that it almost seems like someone lives there. The ninja cars often have a headlight, or tailight, or both tailights, or for the super ninjas both headlights, out. It seems a good bet that they are strangers to insurance as well as registration and maintenance.

Then there are the DGAF drivers. They, like everyone, have figured out that Portland is out of the traffic enforcement business. Red lights, speed limits, no turns, hey whatever, the Man’s not home anyway. They drive all kinds of cars - often fully illuminated and plated, new black Audi wagons to old pickup trucks. Some of the DGAFs look like your neighbors. Some are your neighbors.

I haven’t even mentioned the Lost Washingtonians, circling confusedly around trying to get back to their side of the river, or the Californian Transplant - there are fewer of these nowadays - who have never seen a 20 mph zone outside of a mall parking lot.

Driving around here at night is a maximum defensive driving exercise. Which taxes my eyesight mightily. So, I am thinking about getting a pair of dedicated night driving eyeglasses, to keep in the car. Which is why I’m here - I know PPOT has some eye care professionals, and we have no shortage of getting-older sorts.

My question is: is there such a thing as night driving eyeglasses? Is there a color, or polarization, or anti-glare treatment, that helps? I’d probably get a version of my distance prescription.

[masraum]

Polarized glasses are going to be way to dark for night driving, I think. I think almost anything other than clear will be too dark. The only thing that I can think if that MIGHT offer a little benefit while not making things too dark would be what they used to sell as shooting glasses, which is just a yellow lens. I suspect you wouldn't want to go this route, but a pink/red lens would probably be similar but better. At least, I find red tinted lenses great as sunglasses.

[jyl]

I have even looked into thermal imaging cameras, but $$.

[smadsen]

Man up. Do the LASIK for distance & cheap COSTCO readers for close up. And if you're over 60-ish cataract lens replacement if that's your issue.

[rusnak]

Well, yeah. Go to Walgreens, and in the "As seen on TV" section you can get the 1970s style yellow tinted gold wire framed " Night Vision" glasses. I'm being totally serious. You can look like Chow in "The Hangover" movies. Just add a cowboy hat and scarf.

[LWJ]

JYL describes Portland night driving perfectly. It’s brutal.

[WPOZZZ]

Under $20 on Amazon.

[gregpark]

You could go full on Buffalo Bill

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by jyl

My eyesight is poor. My eyes don’t focus as well as they used to. I like my optometrist. My optometrist is an old-school shop in the heart of downtown Portland where little businesses are struggling to survive. I would like them to stay in business. As a result, I have so many pairs of glasses. I have distance glasses, that turn out to be good outdoors and shooting glasses. I have computer glasses, multiple pairs. I have near glasses, for time spent indoors. I have progressives, which are good at being mediocre at everything. When I have the right glasses with me, I see adequately. I seldom have the right glasses with me. This is only an irritating inconvenience, except for one situation:

Driving at night.

Here is what driving at night during the Portland winter is like. It is raining. It never stops raining. It is very dark, except where headlights are glaring and reflecting off everything wet and shiny and sparkly with splashing rain. Sometimes it rains hard, in curtains or sideways sheets.

Each time you turn onto a street you haven’t driven in a few months, it has been reconfigured. Lanes have disappeared, jumped laterally, have become something-only. You learn of this by peering at the new painted lines on the glaring, flooded, rain-pelted road. We don’t believe in signs.

Everyone is confused. Except pedestrians. They have it all figured out. They don’t pay attention to lines on the road. Those are not for them. They wear black. If drivers can’t see you, they can’t hit you. There are two kinds of pedestrians at night. The first is deaf. He wears white hearing aids, but they only help him hear his iPhone. The second is homeless, or deranged, or high. He hears things, that no-one else does, and it seems distracting.

The ninja cars come out at night. These are cars with no license plates, sometimes older and battered, or so filled with stuff that it almost seems like someone lives there. The ninja cars often have a headlight, or tailight, or both tailights, or for the super ninjas both headlights, out. It seems a good bet that they are strangers to insurance as well as registration and maintenance.

Then there are the DGAF drivers. They, like everyone, have figured out that Portland is out of the traffic enforcement business. Red lights, speed limits, no turns, hey whatever, the Man’s not home anyway. They drive all kinds of cars - often fully illuminated and plated, new black Audi wagons to old pickup trucks. Some of the DGAFs look like your neighbors. Some are your neighbors.

I haven’t even mentioned the Lost Washingtonians, circling confusedly around trying to get back to their side of the river, or the Californian Transplant - there are fewer of these nowadays - who have never seen a 20 mph zone outside of a mall parking lot.

Driving around here at night is a maximum defensive driving exercise. Which taxes my eyesight mightily. So, I am thinking about getting a pair of dedicated night driving eyeglasses, to keep in the car. Which is why I’m here - I know PPOT has some eye care professionals, and we have no shortage of getting-older sorts.

My question is: is there such a thing as night driving eyeglasses? Is there a color, or polarization, or anti-glare treatment, that helps? I’d probably get a version of my distance prescription.

Do lights at night look like stars? If so you need an anti glare coating on the lenses. Other than that there's not much to be done AFAIK.

I have issues with very busy city areas at night. Store lights, street lights, oncoming headlights all bother me so I avoid the city at night. Such is life bro.

[masraum]

My thought is that anything that's any darker than these, is not a good idea at night.



Something like this would probably be better.


If glasses appear dark, then they block light. Blocking light at night in the dark isn't a good thing.

[David Inc.]

Originally Posted by smadsen

Man up. Do the LASIK for distance & cheap COSTCO readers for close up. And if you're over 60-ish cataract lens replacement if that's your issue.

I'd say yes with a caveat. The surgery continues to improve but LASIK did, at least, run the risk of issues with high contrast and night vision sight. I had LASIK about seven years ago and my left eye is perfect but my right eye ended up with 20/20 vision plus halos. White text on black background in low light? Halos. Headlights? Halos. Headlights plus rain drops on the windshield? A constellation of halos obscuring everything.

My brain mostly blocks it out now, which is incredible in its own right, but if my left eye were the same as my right eye I wouldn't be able to drive at night, full stop. I would need another surgery or some sort of correcting something if that were the case.

[jyl]

Lights don't look starry. It is really an issue of picking out black-clad pedestrians in dark streets obscured by rain and dazzled by the million-candlepower headlights of modern cars.

I looked harder at thermal cameras. Something like this would be cool. But, $1500.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832697505216.html

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

Lights don't look starry. It is really an issue of picking out black-clad pedestrians in dark streets obscured by rain and dazzled by the million-candlepower headlights of modern cars.

I looked harder at thermal cameras. Something like this would be cool. But, $1500.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832697505216.html

And wouldn't a bright headlight while wearing something like that end up being very bad?

In all of the movies, when someone is wearing night vision stuff, a bright light is momentarily blinding.

[red-beard]

I use amber (shooting) glasses in hazy light and evening. It cuts out the blue light and allows the iris to open more.

[Superman]

Western Washington is also just as Jyl describes. Can't see anything. Lines on the road are not adequately maintained. Headlights totally GLARE off all wet surfaces.

The second pair of glasses shown by Steve above are similar to a remarkably pair I once tried. They belonged to a friend. I did not try them at night, but I did try them on a dark, cloudy, rainy afternoon. They TOTALLY brightened up my vision, and improved contrast and my overall ability to see. Remarkably so. It was as if they transformed a dark, featureless day into a sunny day. I really should find a pair for myself.

Also there is, you know....cataract surgery. Which I probably need but which my ophthalmologist is not get recommending.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by masraum

And wouldn't a bright headlight while wearing something like that end up being very bad?

In all of the movies, when someone is wearing night vision stuff, a bright light is momentarily blinding.

I don't know. The videos suggest that headlights don't dazzle the thermal imagers. Maybe headlights don't put out much infrared. Or maybe the videos are not "real".

[911 Rod]

Thanks for the chuckle with your driving at night description.
I'm at the point that I want my cataracts to get worse so I can have laser surgery.
Hate the rain at night.

[GH85Carrera]

Go see a ophthalmologist - eye surgeon. Optometrists are OK for just regular prescriptions, but go see a real medical professional that can truly diagnosis your eye health. Listen to his recommendations.

My eyes are great, and as an old geezer like me, my doctor is always amazed at my vision. I wear glasses for the small text, or working on my phone. I see my ophthalmologist every 12 months. If my glasses prescription change (about every 6 years) I go next door to the optometrist to buy glasses.

My wife goes to the same doctor, and she had cataract surgery that went great. I asked my doc about LASIK surgery once. His reply was "do you notice I am wearing glasses" and he then continued with the worst is people shopping price for eye surgery in a truck in a parking lot at Wal-Mart. If you have problems in a few months who will you call to talk to? It is your vision, and most people are very concerned with seeing.

[Rikao4]

Originally Posted by masraum

And wouldn't a bright headlight while wearing something like that end up being very bad?

In all of the movies, when someone is wearing night vision stuff, a bright light is momentarily blinding.

correct..
NVG goggles don't like real lights..
and waiting for 'reset' can = crash..
thus ..
2 up front..
and back...

Rika

[jyl]

Originally Posted by Rikao4

correct..
NVG goggles don't like real lights..
and waiting for 'reset' can = crash..
thus ..
2 up front..
and back...

Rika

Aren't NVG goggles basically light intensifiers operating in the visible light spectrum?

It seems to me that a thermal imager, operating in the infra-red spectrum, could be less sensitive to headlights. Headlights emit lots of visible light, but less infra-red. There are auto headlight systems designed to emit infra-red, but they are specially designed to do so.