Driving at night

I've given up driving at night. I'm only 63 but have very bad eyesight with a blind spot in one eye and wear contact lenses so it's bad enough trying to drive in the day - the sun is also another problem. I do have a pair of glasses with orange lenses in but they didn't seem to make much difference. My husband is a night bird with excellent distance vision (he does need glasses for reading) so he does all the driving. Many years ago I remember my dad getting a pair of glasses for night driving with yellow lenses so they've been around a long time.

We avoid driving at night time lately particularly rush hour when the nights draw in. I don’t mind quite so much when it’s a little later into the evening and the traffic has died down - the pressure of traffic charging around full pelt is bad enough in the daylight but at night it’s downright dangerous. Interestingly, my grandson who is approaching 19 was complaining yesterday evening about the glare of the oncoming lights and how he has to slow down considerably to feel safe. And he has perfect 20:20. vision! His sister, who is also now driving, is very reluctant to drive at night too.

Glad to know I am not alone. I have had both eyes done for cataracts now, and the new glasses that go with them. But I have got out of the habit of driving at night.
I am not very tall and I tend to find headlights these days don't drop like they used to, so shine in my eyes for longer. And that goes even more so for trucks and lorries.

I haven't had to drive at night for a few months, but yesterday had to take OH for a hospital appointment and it was dark when we came out. The route home involves an A road, unlit and without cats eyes (we live in Spain), followed by a motorway, also unlit and the only cats eyes at junctions, and on leaving the motorway having to choose between a very narrow, windy uphill and down dale C road or three times the distance on an unlit A road. OH voted for avoiding the C road as there are stretches with a drop on one side... The motorway is the easiest part as the central reservation has bushes planted between the barriers so oncoming traffic lights are not a nuisance and cars coming from behind are easily able to overtake and get away from me as I pootle along at 100 kph. The A road stretches I find very difficult as there are few chances for overtaking, I stick to the speed limit of 80, and cars behind me get right up my backside with their lights on full beam. I find this much more troublesome than oncoming headlights as with those I can concentrate on keeping the car the correct distance from the line at the side of the road and not look directly at them. Are the night driving clip ons really that effective? I definitely need something, because OH's sight is too bad for him to drive, so it is down to me when we have to go out in the dark.

If your eyesight’s not up to scratch you shouldn’t be driving. Simple as that, whatever age, reason or time of day.

I've just purchased some anti glare night drive glasses but they just seem to make everything darker . Just a sign of ageing me thinks ?

>> must be designed by young men!!<<

young men who drive those "sporty" cars which just skim the road.

Some years ago a son of DH gave him a pair of night time driving glasses. He does find them helpful but they have got scratched. I saw an ad for some better quality night time specs and have ordered a pair - about £18 - we are waiting for them to arrive. They look to be a much better quality and will fit over normal specs. The lenses in these glasses are yellow.
On motorways if the central barrier was built just slightly higher it would stop the glare of oncoming cars being a problem - must be designed by young men!!

I have the same problem. Clip-on night driving specs help a little. I bought an anti dazzle visor to clip onto the sun shield, but it vibrates with the movement of the car, which I find off-putting. It has one drop down screen for sunshine and another for night-time.

What gets me is these blue headlights-DH said he thought they were illegal. Driving home from one choir a few miles away there are some unlit parts of the route but I always chose the dual carriageway route so I'm not pressured (always drive at speed limit mind!).
Several times I've thought it was an emergency vehicle coming up but it was just these confounded blue lights.
I use the sort side fog lights too on left hand side which helps no end on unlit stretches.
I honestly think if we know we're struggling we need to get checked-and then. . . . Be prepared to stop driving, at least at night!

I have Macular Degeneration and although at present I can still drive legally, I stopped driving in dusk and dark at least 5 years ago because I did not feel that it was safe for me. Fortunately in London there are no unlit roads but it was the glare from other cars which finished my nighttime driving.

I can understand the ones that don’t dip as they approach. I don’t like it but Surely we’ve all done that from time to time. It’s the ones that put them back on before they’ve gone past that really annoy me.
They can’t put that down to forgetfulness.

Yes I have all of the above problems living in a rural area it is worsening and the you get the clown in the opposite direction who dosen't dip their headlights till the last minute...my same age friend wears contacts her prescription is as high as mine does not have this problem..

I have to collect DGS from the bus stop in the village twice a week which means driving against rush hour traffic on our way home. It's OK in the summer of course but turning right on the farm road is tricky when you can't see the entrance for the glare of the oncoming lights.

I have to wait for a gap in the traffic and go for it but how can you guage the size of a gap when you can't flippin' see?

Definitely an age thing. I have friends who refuse to drive after dark but I'm not that bad yet.

Yes - all of the above.
Optician says that it is inevitable with age - and also I have a high degree of astigmatism as well as being very short-sighted. I have the start of cataracts as well. She keeps saying I am well within the legal limits with specs on, so that is reassuring, but the nighttime driving is a challenge - so I only do it when I absolutely have to.

The oncoming headlights are the main problem.

Neither DH nor I like driving in the dark. We don’t do it if we don’t have to, but when we go to DDs, we come home along an unlit country road with a lot of bends. A godsend for me is the fact that our car has automatic headlight sensors which mean that I don’t have to worry about turning on and taking off full beam, but it did something very peculiar last night when DH was driving and he was so startled by it that he almost came off the road. In the process of going from one beam to the other, all the lights went out for just a few seconds and then came back on again. It was scary!

I'm 59 and have had this problem for a few years now.

We live in a rural area with no street lighting, the anti glare over glasses were fine until there were no other cars around, then I found I was plunged into darkness!

My main problem is seeing where the verge or ditch on my left is. I find the turning on my fog lights (in addition to my headlights) helps quite a bit, but strictly speaking it's illegal to have fog lights on when it's not foggy

It’s getting bad for me too and DH really struggles. He claims it’s the new headlights but I know it’s an age thing. I live in fear of a cyclist being hidden in that dark chasm to the left of approaching headlights and like Tegan I try to follow someone else.

By the time we reach 70 we meed something like 50% more light to see things than we do at 30, or a statistic like that. Obviously this is more evident at night.

Glare is part of the problem, and my driving glasses have reactolite lens and an antiglare coating, which certainly helps. I am OK on roads I know and dual carriageways and motorways, but avoid any country routes I am unfamiliar with after dark.

The problems also get much worse if you are developing cataracts. I had to virtually stop night driving the year or so before mine were removed.

I don't know what causes it but it is a common phenomenon among my friends.

I did get some anti glare glasses for that a few years ago but must admit that I forget to have them in the car. I do struggle with driving at night. There's one road that's very dark that I have to drive home along and I must admit that, if I have a line of cars behind me I pull in so that I can follow the other cars. It doesn't help that road marking seem to be non existent these days. [note to self; put those glasses in the car tomorrow]