Night Time Driving
When I Drive I Have Trouble With:
- Decreased clarity
- Glare and halos
- Oncoming headlights
- Seeing the center line
- Judging distances
- Depth perception
%
1 in 3 Americans have Astigmatism
%
1 in 4 Americans have Myopia
Everyone wants to feel safe when driving. The problem is, driving at night requires much better vision that daytime driving. Many patients complain of glare, temporary blindness from headlights, and poor depth perception when driving at night. There are several reasons that our vision is worse at night compared to daytime. In most cases, we have solutions that will dramatically improve your vision and make you feel safer on the road. We’ve listed the most common causes of poor night vision below. If you are struggling with your night vision make an appointment with us and we’ll find the underlying cause and offer solutions to make you feel safer behind the wheel!
Common Causes
Myopia
Cause: The eye is too long from front to back. Very small amounts of uncorrected Myopia cause significant nighttime blur.
Solution: Glasses, contact lenses, and LASIK. There are also options to slow down the progression of Myopia.
Astigmatism
Cause: The shape of the front of the eye is not perfectly spherical causing starbursts and halos around headlights.
Solution: Glasses and contact lenses correct astigmatism well. There are many contact lens options for astigmatism.
Cataracts
Cause: The lens inside our eye becomes opaque, usually later in life. This is a common cause of halos and glare from headlights.
Solution: Cataract surgery removes the opaque lens and replaces it with a clear implant. This is safe and effective out-patient surgery.
Mydriasis
Cause: Our pupil becomes larger at night (mydriasis), letting light enter through distorted parts of our cornea and lens, creating “higher order abberations”
Solution: While pupil size specifically can’t be controlled, we can often improve aberrations with special contact lenses like scleral lenses.
Hyperopia
Cause: The eye is too short from front to back.
Solution: Glasses and contact lenses correct hyperopia well.