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Does anyone use these, do they work? Struggling at night with bright lights/definition
Wear contact lenses- -6 vision in both eyes
I have anti glare coating but I don't find it helps massively.
Just my experience.
If I wear sunglasses it feels loads nicer but obviously not a good idea at night
I have a pair of sunglasses with a yellow tint that I keep in the glove pocket of the car.
I find that after driving a while at night and my eyes become 'tired', putting on these glasses reduce the intensity of the on-coming headlights.
LED lights are the worst for that intensity.
I have anti glare coating but I don’t find it helps massively.
Just my experience.
And mine..
Worth making sure your windscreen is really clean - a lot of glare experienced is grime on the inside of the glass being illuminated and a pair of specs isn't going to solve that. After about 80-100k windscreens tend to be peppered with loads of tiny marks from grit and gravel and these can create glare problems too in headlights or low sun. I had to replace a higher milage windscreen after a stone chip recently and the difference it made to night and winter driving was quite remarkable, windscreen wipers worked better too and streaked less because all the tiny little scratches hold water .
You tend not think the glass can effectively wear out but its being hit grit and dirt and 70mph for thousands of hours will obviously effect it.
@maccruiskeen that's really interesting buddy, I'll look at that. My screen is minging on the outside and probably not much better on the inside. My contact lenses are probably filthy too!
The laminated screens also start deteriorating over time and develop lots of little bubbles that look like grit damage on the outside. I notice this as I was awake when it was explained during an inspection of the AutoWindscreens factory here in ChezVegas. The laminate fails and gives lots of imperfections.
Yeah polish windscreen inside and out first. Anti reflective coatings only reduce reflection at the lens surfaces so reducing the starry effect of glare, but they also need to be spotless. It doesn’t reduce the brightness. If you’re really struggling you can legally have a light yellow tinted, combined with a anti reflective coating, but they look horrible so aren’t really good for anything else.
my glasses have had the treatment too but I still find night driving now pretty hard going with the bright LEDs so many have and SUVs especially -- I had read about windscreens getting a build up of grime, on the inside, especially from smoking. I'm not a smoker but who knows if our car's previous owners were, it's a 2010 Passat, given to us last year after a family death, it's a lovely car to drive but the headlamps are absolutely terrible, another issue for me with night driving!
How best to clean the windscreen then is the next question
How best to clean the windscreen then is the next question
My works van screen was mingin on the inside, couldn't find any glas cleaner but there was a spray bottle of some kind of disinfectant we had been given to clean contact points. Worked a treat!
When I mentioned problems with night driving to my optician he just told me it’s was because I was getting old (eyes slower to react to changes in light) and the solution was to driver slower…
Is it uncorrected astigmatism?
This causes a lot of issues with glare and "starburst" lights.
I had new specs recently, and they have me helped a bit with night driving as my old ones had got scratched with time and so diffused light a bit, but no other issues with my sight, apart from me being shortsighted!
80-100k windscreens tend to be peppered with
I've never had a screen last that long.
At night I turn dash lights to minimum, try and focus on the nearside curb when bright lights approach.
Also dip the rear view mirror and sometimes in my elderly car with old tech lighting I adjust the side mirrors too.
good call @jamesoz yes, I have my rearview mirror on dipped even in daytime, when invariably I am being tailgated in a 30 zone by someone with LEDs (grr)... the continuous white line often painted on the nearside edge on (some) rural roads helps on unlit sections, and so do cat's eyes but they seem to be disappearing from so many (UK) roads which is a shame as they make a massive difference at night.
My opticians have told me that at night with a high prescription I suffer with effectively reduced vision due to the limited colour spectrum.
I'm going to look at getting a higher prescription pair for night driving.
Sighs
How best to clean the windscreen then is the next question
Its as much when best as how best - Have the stuff to clean it to hand... take the opportunity in situations when glare is at its worst - you need to be able to see what you're cleaning otherwise for all you know you're just moving muck about. So if its a day when theres a clear sky and low sun, or if you're somewhere where they're bright floodlights or whatever clean the windscreen while you're parked facing into that light.
You can use various glass cleaners to get started but finish off with elbow grease and dry paper- thats what will actually get the grime off the glass ones loosened by the cleaner. I used to work with a glass designer and we'd clean all her stuff for exhibitions just with newspaper and now I usually don't use any cleaner, just paper, usually blue roll if thats whats to hand. Paper towels out of the dispensers on filling station forecourts work well too.
While you're at it - clean the windscreen wiper blades to - amazing how dirty they often are.
Fairy liquid as a detergent, applied with a damp cloth.
Removed with a dry cloth, or towel. Or a squeegee, if you have one.
Proper fairy liquid is what pro window cleaners use.
I’m -6.5 with an astigmatism in one eye and borderline in the other, in my mid 50s, and i wear contacts most of the time. I don’t have any problems seeing at night, it might be worth seeing an optician, to rule out any other health problems. Just in case like.
I used to work with a glass designer and we’d clean all her stuff for exhibitions just with newspaper
Newspaper and vinegar used to be the thing.
Or am I thinking of fish and chips?
Just to add,I have a very mild prescription and only wear glasses for comfort as I do very high miles. Even as a teenager when I had no prescription required I've suffered from glare and brighter lights when driving.
Someone in a ski resort once said if you have blue eyes you need darker sun glasses. No idea
Could just be I've always had terrible cars.
Never had an issue driving a transit custom. Might be the reason for all the SUVs.
I still find night driving now pretty hard going with the bright LEDs so many have and SUVs especially
Yup. Hell is other people(‘s lights).
Is it uncorrected astigmatism?
This causes a lot of issues with glare and “starburst” lights.
So do cataracts. Have your eyes checked to see if you’re developing them. About eighteen months ago I started to have issues driving to work during the winter, because I was getting a flare around oncoming headlights, the only way I could describe it was like those starburst fireworks around the lights, and it was extending across to the nearside verge. After an eye checkup, I had an appointment with an ophthalmologist at Bath RUH, where cataracts were confirmed but not bad enough to have anything done. Through last winter it got really bad, to the point where I was having to brake because I just couldn’t see the verge at all.
I had another checkup in June, which is when I normally get my eyes checked, and that confirmed they’d got a lot worse, so the opticians contacted the hospital again.
I had a letter about a phone appointment in October, which I had, and the nurse said with luck, I might get my right eye, my worst one, done before Christmas. Big sigh of relief. Two days later, I had a phone call from hospital admissions, to say they’d had a cancellation, would I be ok with that; when, I asked. Next Tuesday, the 27th!
So I’m now two months on from having the first one done, and the difference is just amazing. My eyesight in that eye is better than it’s been for forty years, it’s actually improved the astigmatism I suffered from, but it’s also shown just how bad my left eye has become. Fortunately, driving at night now isn’t the problem it was, because I’m no longer getting the flare around oncoming lights.
I’m now waiting for confirmation about my left eye, I’ve had a letter saying if I’ve not heard anything by January 6, to contact them.
I’m wearing a high strength contact lens in my left eye, which does give me some vision, but once that eye has been done, I’ll no longer need glasses, except for closeup work, and I can’t wait!
Honestly, get your eyes checked, and explain the issue, it’s amazing just how quickly the condition can develop, mine was across less than a year that it started to be an issue, roughly six months, and the ‘flare’ problem sounds just the same as mine.
It’s possible it might be your lenses, but make an appointment as soon as possible, by the time my right eye was done, I honestly think my eyesight had become so bad I shouldn’t have been driving, or at least not in the dark, and it was a wake-up call, to say the least!
My opticians have told me that at night with a high prescription I suffer with effectively reduced vision due to the limited colour spectrum.
I’m going to look at getting a higher prescription pair for night driving.
Does it work like that? If you have lenses which correct your sight, you can't have "more correct" surely?
(Genuine question, I don't know.)
How best to clean the windscreen then is the next question
Indeed. Looking for tips.
My most recent regimen was:
Magic eraser squeezed to ‘damp’ with a fairly strong washing up liquid & water solution. Gently rub the whole of the inside of the windscreen using a circular motion. Then wipe clean with kitchen roll. Then repeat with magic eraser using horizontal and vertical motion. Wipe with kitchen roll. Then wipe with damp kitchen roll. Then with dry kitchen roll.
Then repeat the steps with a fresh piece of magic eraser dampened with isopropyl alcohol (propan-2-ol) followed by the kitchen roll steps. Omit the penultimate damp kitchen roll step.
Then polish with a fresh microfibre cloth designed for glass.
Then do the same on the outside.
This tedious procedure came about after greasy smearing was still there after using all sorts of alleged glass cleaning sprays, detergent, micro fibre cloths, ….
Did the same thing with a friend on their cleaning-resistant wind screen. Apparently made a big difference.
I’ve never found better than Autoglym glass polish. And for the wipers a squirt of IPA (cleaning alcohol, not beer) on a paper towel or similar then clean the blades - amazing how much much comes off them.
When I mentioned problems with night driving to my optician he just told me it’s was because I was getting old (eyes slower to react to changes in light) and the solution was to driver slower…
Yep, and give it a few years you'll be like my Mum & her pals, dawn-to-dusk drivers - and at this time of year up here they make sure they're home by 3:30pm...
Karcher window vac and the matching spray bottle/microfibre thing with diluted fairly liquid in. I tried various glass cleaners over the years but this is the onlyone that seems to work well everytime.
I’ve never found better than Autoglym glass polish. And for the wipers a squirt of IPA (cleaning alcohol, not beer) on a paper towel or similar then clean the blades – amazing how much much comes off them.
+1 to all that, AG glass polish is great stuff. I use it on the outside (followed by Rain-X rain repellent), for ease on the inside I use Windolene - worth seeking out the original stuff as I've found other brands 'glass cleaner' smears far worse. Combine that with good quality wiper blades.
After about 80-100k windscreens tend to be peppered with loads of tiny marks from grit and gravel and these can create glare problems too in headlights or low sun.
I've experienced that too and it makes quite a difference: the windscreen on the 5yr 35k miles MINI I bought was terribly peppered with small marks. Apparently the relatively upright windscreen made it susceptible to stonechips/rash. That plus the car did those 35k miles in northeast Scotland hence more grit on the roads, which can't have helped.
If I wear sunglasses it feels loads nicer but obviously not a good idea at night
And illegal. I was listening to a podcast last week, cat4 dark sunglasses are illegal even in the day, and they said dark sunglasses can cause the pupil to get larger...so you could be more susceptible to glare even though the brightness is less.
How best to clean the windscreen then is the next question
I'm quite fussy when it comes to a clean windscreen but have always put up with smudges/smears/cloudiness despite trying various cleaning methods/sprays/paper.
Saw one earlier in the year that turned out to be foolproof. Get a squeegie with a microfibre bar on the back (or use a sponge) and simply wash the inside of the windscreen with hot water and a drop of washing up liquid. Put a rag on the dash to catch drips. Squeegie it off from the top down and use the rag to wipe round the edges. Takes all the grease and grime off. Repeat on the outside if needed.
And for your glasses...never wash with water, or use your T shirt to wipe them...use spectacle cleaner and wipe on both sides to get them properly clean. I think anti reflective coatings are designed to stop light from the side from reflecting off the inside of your glasses and towards your eyes, I don't think it helps much with light from in front of you.
Finally, with contact lenses I always had to make sure the air con was not directed towards my face as it would help dry out my lenses (even when heating the air con is dehumidifying unless you turn it off). When I wore lenses I would rarely drive any distance at night in them, always switched to glasses.
I have had anti-glare on my driving glasses for the last 7 years, not sure if they make all that much difference.
But I do find now that my eyes seem to take longer to adjust to the darkness (probably down to age, now 49). I often avoid night driving where possible.
OP,
I think you have astigmatism.
Anti-glare coating only helps a little in my experience.
@chewkw my optician says you are wrong
Mucky window ✅
Air con blowing at me ✅
Dry eyes ✅
Cleaning the window helped loads, as does blinking to wet my lenses, as has moving the air direction!
newer contact lenses tend to stay more hydrated as the day progresses so they might help with night driving. With all the current contact lenses available there is not reason not to correct all but the smallest of astigmatism. Dryer eyes cause more problems than expected, particularly after much pc work then driving home with the heaters on. H20 intake is important as is diet as omega 3 oils are tipically low in the western diet. Occular and lid hygiene is important as more people seem to be struggling with blocked glands on the edges of their lids causing poorer tear quality. Surprisingly large subject. Most spectacle lens manufacture do make specific night driving lenses with reflection free coatings and a specific filter to reduce the amount of high energy blue light, these can help but not a miracle cure.
One other thing I noticed when wearing contacts that correct for astigmatism...
If your eyes are at all dry, the lens can stick slightly and will rotate off centre, this makes your astigmatism correction go wrong and result in stars/stripes.
I recently stumbled across a YouTube video explaining about astigmatism... Vertical and horizontal basically. Horizontal is meant to be worse as it causes letters in words to overlap each other. Turns out I have one eye horizontal and one vertical, which explains why I can sometimes read better by closing one eye. Uncorrected I see halo/star effect around lights at night, close one eye and it's a horizontal smear, swap to the other and it's vertical!
First clean window drive, night and day difference! Thanks all