The thread about flashing oncoming Xenon-headlit cars prompts me to ask whether anyone can recommend night-driving specs to reduce glare.
I'm not au fait with the most recent issue of the Highway Code but seem to remember I'd heard that the Code's advice (exhortation?) is not to use such glasses. However, I don't get a headache (from oncoming headlights) when I wear my old pound-shop ones; and when I accidentally leave them at home, I do. (They're now falling apart, hence my searching for a replacement pair.)
Thank you.
AF.
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You wear mild sunglasses in the dark? There is a law against tinted helmet visors and windscreens.
Edited by Old Navy on 24/01/2009 at 13:29
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If you can't drive at night without headaches unless you wear tinted glasses then I would strongly suggest you visit an optician.
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Yep.
I find this thread bizarre... on one hand you have people talking optician, on the other, the words 'pound shop' are mentioned.
Now, would you buy medicines from some chap at the local market stall, or trust your local pharmacist/doctor to give you the right stuff?
Same thing with spectacles ...
Excuse me coining a phrase: There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Or maybe that should be "there are none who will be so blind..."
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I would recommend anyone who just uses ordinary glasses to get contact lenses. Most opticians offer free trials. I always found the thought awful because of fear of the unknown. They are actually just small slips of jelly-like hydrophilic clear material preformed in a dome that you drop onto your iris/cornea of the eye and you can't tell they're there (esp. the more expensive ones). You can just replace them every day for about £1 or get ones that last 2 weeks that you put in a cap of liquid every night for about £3 a fortnight or a mixture of the above. Night driving is a massive improvement as there is no internal refraction of different materials. All driving awareness is improved, because all vision is corrected, even peripheral vision and there are no frames in the way, especially with the current fashion for thicker frames and smaller lenses. So you can glance at instruments etc.. without peering under the specs. I have had them for a year and kick myself for not having them years ago, although I think the technology is better these days.
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=07Pd4nK61Rs
Edited by Hamsafar on 24/01/2009 at 14:52
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I suspect whats happening to the OP is that his eyes have different strengths - the problem with the poundland rubbish is that they don't allow for that so one eye will be trying to compensate... and therefore he's getting a headache!
Go to an Optician, get tested, and get one of their pairs... you can get £25 ones these days, and you know that they'll be ok!
Oh, and they can also add an "anti glare" coating to them, though I've not really noticed any difference with the ordinary ones.
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Back in the fifties and sixties it was possible to buy night driving glasses. They were a light yellow tint much like the colour French headlights used to be. Very effective I seem to remember, my father had a pair.
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You can still get them on eBay and other places on the web. Opticians don't recommend using them though.
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At night the only thing you see of pedestrians is the light reflected off them. you want as much of that to reach the eyeball as possible, not being diluted by glasses.
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I'd recommend a trip to an Optician, ensure you mention your driving issue & headaches to them. They will provide you with suitable glasses for driving at anytime of the day or night.
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>>Opticians don't recommend using them though
They wouldn't, would they? Better spend a couple of hundred with them.
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Er, perhaps I should've mentioned that my distance-vision is perfect, attested to by my optimist (as I call him ? a cheerful chap); and that when I mentioned the headaches he said, "Those dratted bi-xenon headlights, I expect. Perhaps a pair of yellow-tinted specs? Haven't seen them in years, mind."
AF.
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you can buy cycling goggles/glasses with yellow lenses from any good bike outlet or even a Halfords. I've got a pair that came with 3 detachable lenses including a dark tint and clear lenses.
The same principle is used on skiing goggles. Yellow or orange tints cuts out glare from snow, so the same theory should work on bright car lights.
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Yellow or orange tints cuts out glare from snow so the same theory should work on bright car lights.
I wear glasses and have a pair of clip-on yellow tinted lenses that I've had for many years. Must say I've never tried them at night, but in the day-time I wear them a lot, they seem particularly useful in overcast, but bright, days. They take all the glare away and seem to sharpen everything up.
They can't be very tinted as I've found them not no good in the US, even with the more heavily tinted car windows there.
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The same principle is used on skiing goggles. Yellow or orange tints cuts out glare from snow so the same theory should work on bright car lights.
Yes but you dont go skiing at night do you.
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Yes but you dont go skiing at night do you.
Not normally you don't of course. Oddly enough though, this has reminded me of something and I promise I will try to drag it screaming back to the topic before the end !
Many years ago I was heavily involved in the world of skiing. Much of this centred around the organisation of junor races. One year on such an event at Bormio in Italy, we arranged a night race lit by flaming torches in place of the usual flag gates. Wouldn't be allowed now due to safety regs but was nonetheless great fun and passed off without accidents attributable to the torches. Copius quantities of Grappa helped with the temperature issues.
It was found by many of us that the yellow tinted goggles helped greatly in improving visibility. Without them the contours of the snow were much harder to define.
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 26/01/2009 at 10:34
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Ah yes Bormio
I tried to drive from bormio to ponte di legno on the SS300 in october. It was closed half way up due to snow and I had a very interesting reverse down again.
there I dragged it back to motoring for you as you failed to do so.
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Haven't seen them in years, mind.
Just Google "night driving glasses" you will find loads.
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ones that last 2 weeks that you put in a cap of liquid every night for about £3 a fortnight
I'd love to know where you can get 2 weekly lenses for £3?
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>I would recommend anyone who just uses ordinary glasses to get contact lenses ... Night driving is a massive improvement
Funny - I find the exact opposite, to the point where I wear contact lenses (which I much prefer in daylight) all day, then take them out and put on my glasses before driving home in the dark. The glasses have advanced high-refractivity Pentax lenses with a good anti-reflection coating.
Not sure what the reason is for this. I don't feel the same difference in pre-dawn darkness, so it may be to do with my eyes being tired at the end of the day. It may be my very mild astigmatism, which my glasses correct because they can, but my contacts don't because they don't really need to. (Correction requires correct orientation, which is possible but more difficult to achieve with contacts.) But it's the same every time, and if I forget to change before I set off, I have to stop en route and find somewhere to swap.
Incidentally, my top-brand contact lens prescription costs me about £3 a month for lenses and about the same for solution. Perfectly safe, healthy and legal, and my optometrist told me how, so ask yours!
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I'm still on my free trial contact lenses from Specsavers (nice lady handed me several boxes). Only a 0.5D astigmatism but it helps when they're lined up the right way. I find myself blinking every so often to try to get them straight if they go wonky which is annoying. Only wear them once or twice a week, and it's only for 1 eye so they're lasting ages... ;-)
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I've never had headaches from driving at night... it still sounds like somethings wrong, despite what your "optimist" says, I'd be tempted to get a second opinion...
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I had forgotten about night driving glasses. I don't much like night driving against these new headlights due to cataracts which are not bad enough to be ripped out yet.
I googled as suggested and last night I ordered a clip-on version as I wear glasses anyway..
Only £12 + postage. I'll report back when I've tried them
Ted
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>>>I'd love to know where you can get 2 weekly lenses for £3?
Hello, I go to www.discountlens.co.uk/ these days, I think they are in Austria or Germany but the high Euro has increased the prices somewhat.
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You can read all about Night Driving Glasses by clicking this link.
It is an Online Opticians and it explains in detail about what you should be doing to improve your vision/driving at night.
They also offer FREE anti reflection,anti scratch & UV400 coatings with all of their glasses,so you can save a lot of money, as these coatings can cost as much as £40+.
I hope this helps.
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