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Driving at Night

cherryq

cherryq

Well-Known Member
Does anyone else have difficulty driving at night? I have found the more vehicles and street lamps use LED lighting for bulbs, the harder it is for me to make it home while driving at night (even if it's only a five minute trip). I am terribly sensitive to lighting anyway, so I find night driving to be very hard. I end up squinting because all of the lights are so bright, but then I cannot see the sidewalks or where non-lighted cars are parked on the road side. However, I cannot keep my eyes fully open because the lights make my eyes and head hurt so badly. I am practically in tears. I would love to wear sunglasses to combat this issue, but this will cause the same problem as squinting: I won't be able to see what's in dark, unlit areas.

Does anyone else have this issue or have suggestions for dealing with this? Thanks!
 
I have the same problem! The only way I can think of for dealing with this is to flash my brights when oncoming traffic blinds me. Even if it's a feature of the bulb, and not the fact that the other driver left their brights on, it's still just deserts in my opinion.
 
ancusmitis said:
I have the same problem! The only way I can think of for dealing with this is to flash my brights when oncoming traffic blinds me. Even if it's a feature of the bulb, and not the fact that the other driver left their brights on, it's still just deserts in my opinion.
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I'm going to have to start doing that on a regular basis, I think! The new bulbs make it very hard in general to tell if brights are on or not. Unfortunately, I can't flash my brights at street lamps to make them aware they are blinding me. :rolleyes:
 
cherryq said:
I'm going to have to start doing that on a regular basis, I think! The new bulbs make it very hard in general to tell if brights are on or not. Unfortunately, I can't flash my brights at street lamps to make them aware they are blinding me. :rolleyes:
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Ah, yes. Street lights are very lame. It would be nice to turn them all off sometimes, just to get a good view of the stars.
 
Yes, I have the same problem but yellow or amber glasses solve it for me. Try what are sold as shooting glasses fist, those are the lightest then get darker amber ones if those are not enough.

Unlike other colors of lenses, yellow and amber enhance colors and, make your vision sharper but, they also remove the glare of LED and Halogen lights so, it makes the lights stay the little dots they are supposed to be.
 
I have bright lights as a sensitivity issue too and wear amber glasses a lot. I find them useful when riding on or off road,at a shooting range or at night. There is a definite separation of colors and a huge reduction in glare that sharpens my vision. I would also recommend them to you to try to help :)
 
A while ago the most modern lights had a blue tint and were so bright I was blinded. For most of my adult life I had to drive, either for night classes, kids' social life, and the special treat of working 3-11 or 11-7. Once I retired I finally stopped night driving almost 100%. The major reason I made that decision is because I moved to the country for my retirement and I live in an area with many deer. They sometimes jump out in front of traffic from areas too dark to notice them until they are right in front of the car.
 
I prefer the night and as my work shifts change weekly I always look forward to them. I am affected far more by bright sunlight than car headlights.
 
I have this issue too. I find the new white or bluish lights way too bright. I didn't used to have a problem driving at night when I first learned to drive over 20 years ago, but now it is a problem.
 
Thank you for your input and advice, everyone! I will definitely be looking into a new pair of glasses that are either yellow or amber in color. The blinding blue lights weren't as popular five or six years ago but have recently become extremely common (including other ridiculous colors like a purple-tinted light and bright white). I'm just relieved to know that there are glare-reducing glasses that can be worn at night.

Cheers!
 
I have noticed this problem has gotten a lot worse since a year ago for me (I've only been driving for about 2 or 3 years). Does this mean it will keep getting worse as I get older? If it gets worse I will have to give up driving at night. How annoying.
 
Most cars these days are being outfitted with headlight technology know as HID(High Intensity Discharge). It the same light tech that you find in gymnasium lighting and projectors bulbs. They are much more brighter and energy efficient then their halogen counterpart. But you're right. Looking at them in on-coming traffic can be rather painful.
 
flowers said:
I have noticed this problem has gotten a lot worse since a year ago for me (I've only been driving for about 2 or 3 years). Does this mean it will keep getting worse as I get older? If it gets worse I will have to give up driving at night. How annoying.
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I think the main issue is the newer types of lighting, as FreeDiver mentions. If they continue to come out with such intense lighting for vehicles and street lamps, then it will continue to get worse. Even still, as people purchase newer cars, and newer bulbs for their vehicles' headlights, the problem will increase. When I started driving six years ago, there weren't nearly as many lights that were so intense and blinding. They still hurt, but there weren't as many. I have also noticed over the past year, like you, that they have gotten much more intense. I suppose it's just the manufacture of the newer HID technology for headlights. I feel that soon I will have to wear sunglasses for everything...
 
FreeDiver said:
Most cars these days are being outfitted with headlight technology know as HID(High Intensity Discharge). It the same light tech that you find in gymnasium lighting and projectors bulbs. They are much more brighter and energy efficient then their halogen counterpart. But you're right. Looking at them in on-coming traffic can be rather painful.
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Doesn't it strike anyone else that this is actually very dangerous? It can't be just us aspies that are having problems here!
 
Holy crap, a million times yes.

I don't know whether there are more cars/LED lights around, or I've just got more sensitive in general (mixture of both, most likely), but last winter was a nightmare for driving. All of my driving routes encompassed dark, unlit roads for at least part of the way - and nearly every time I drove I would get some moron on my tail, blinding me via my mirrors. It wound me up so much sometimes, I probably wasn't safe to drive.

I'm going to look into these amber glasses (will they fit over regular glasses?).

ancusmitis said:
Doesn't it strike anyone else that this is actually very dangerous? It can't be just us aspies that are having problems here!
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I've wondered about this. To me, it seems more dangerous to blind people than it does to drive with dimmer headlights. Personally I hardly ever use my brights, as I don't need them: my eyes quickly adapt to the darkness, or would if they were given a chance to.
 
If you think about it. On coming traffic at night is never good for anyone who has a sensitivity to bright light, irregardless of what type of lighting is use.
 
FreeDiver said:
If you think about it. On coming traffic at night is never good for anyone who has a sensitivity to bright light, irregardless of what type of lighting is use.
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Yes, but some lights are much worse than others. It is already commonly accepted that you dim your brights when you see another driver on the road, whether they are in front of you in your lane, or coming from the opposite direction. Blue and purple "low" bulbs that are the functional equivalent of highbeams is dangerous or at least rude no matter who else is on the road with you.
 
Night blindness is a pretty common issue, I personally get big auras around light often, but those slowly fade when I get used to the light or don't pay attention to them

As to a fix for your problems, the yellow tinted glasses are a great option that works well. Many opticians sell these glasses specifically for people with these night blindness issues. No idea if those are expensive but you might be able to try them out in a dark room with a light or ask if you could return them if they don't work for you.

Hope your problem can be fixed
 
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