Eyesight and Road Safety
Attending regular eye exams and road safety
Ensuring your prescription is up to date will help keep you safe while driving. Please no not ignore any changes to your vision, whether you find things blurry up close or at a distance, this can all affect how safe you are driving. Attending regular eye exams, is the best way to make sure your eyes are fit to drive and healthy.
As winter is approaching, and the nights are getting longer, we tend to find we are driving in the dark more often, which can make it more challenging. Dark nights, poor visibility and glare from cars & streetlights can make it more stressful. Here are some of the things that could be affecting your vision:
Difficulty seeing road signs or distant objects – Myopia (Short-sighted)
If you’re struggling to read road signs or see other things in the distance, such as pedestrians or things on the road, then you may be short-sighted (myopia).
Seeing things on the road can be more difficult in the dark, and being short-sighted can add to the danger of this. Throw in some glare from on-coming traffic and things could get really challenging.
Therefore, having your short-sighted vision checked and using the correct prescription along with anti-glare lenses can help keep you and everyone else on road safe.
Struggling to read your dashboard, map or directions on your GPS – Presbyopia
You might notice your struggling to read your phone, then it could be the directions on your car GPS, which could be a sign of presbyopia. Not being able to see directions or warning signs on your car’s dashboard or GPS map, can cause erratic or dangerous driving.
Presbyopia tends to develop in the over 40s, when your eye loses its ability to focus on things up close. Thankfully this is easily fixed, multifocal lenses & contact lenses can help you see clearly near and far.
Glare or light reflection
One of the main distractions when driving at night is glare from headlights, streetlights or reflections from wet road surfaces. Glare can cause temporary blindness and may take a few seconds to regain full vision. It can also cause affect your depth perception making it hard to judge distances, which can have an impact on your driving.
If you wear glasses, the best way to tackle this, is to have a good anti-reflective coating on your lenses, which can help reduce glare. Another option to invest in driving lenses, such as Hoya EnRoute
If you are due an eye exam, give us a call today. We can also help with recommending anti-reflective coatings and driving lenses, if it suits your lifestyle.