Night Driving.

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zcar12
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Night Driving.

Post by zcar12 » Sun Dec 04, 2016 11:20 am

I have given up driving at night due to my eyes not being able to cope with glare, especially if the roads are wet. With any rain, the light gets scattered more than normal. Many cars seem to have badly adjusted headlights. With all this, I have taken the view that driving at night presents too much of a risk for me and possibly to others.

I have been looking for solutions to this problem of night driving and it has been mentioned to me that non reflective lenses can help reduce glare. Has any one tried non reflective lenses? My distance vision is good and I only need reading glasses.

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Re: Night Driving.

Post by CHR15E » Sun Dec 04, 2016 11:38 am

I don't think the new super duper headlights in a lot cars help.

It has to be worth seeking professional help and see what can be done to help you, at this time of year I basically only drive at night in the week as I work nights so see little daylight.
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Dec 04, 2016 7:53 pm

zcar12 wrote:I have given up driving at night due to my eyes not being able to cope with glare, especially if the roads are wet. With any rain, the light gets scattered more than normal. Many cars seem to have badly adjusted headlights. With all this, I have taken the view that driving at night presents too much of a risk for me and possibly to others.

I have been looking for solutions to this problem of night driving and it has been mentioned to me that non reflective lenses can help reduce glare. Has any one tried non reflective lenses? My distance vision is good and I only need reading glasses.
I've used the amber/yellow versions of these in the past to great effect :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat ... 5573.m1684

The ones i got were from a market/car boot sale stall years ago, sadly they've broken now as something fell on them but i've found they reduce glare to tolerable levels and make night driving much easier and safer.
For the price they're worth a try at least ................. :wink: :D
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by Slamm » Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:41 pm

I drive for a living and I find the HID head lights a real pain in the ass. How these things passed safety standards is beyond me, and as you say in wet conditions very difficult driving.
The day driving lights bug me as well, emergency vehicles with flashing head lights are barley noticeable on a busy motorway nowadays.
And while i'm having a moan, LED brake lights in the dark and people that keep there foot on the brake pedal :evil:

Time for a change in career I think :lol:
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by zcar12 » Sun Dec 04, 2016 11:09 pm

Thank you gentleman, your comments are appreciated. I already have a pair of polarized glasses, such as a fisherman would use to see through through glare on the water. They do reduce glare but my vision is somewhat reduced. I have read that polarized grey glasses are better so I have a pair on order After that, I will try a polarized amber pair.

Research from the so-called expert opticians claim that tinted glasses do not help night driving and actually reduce night vision, though they give the impression of an improvement. They are not able to explain why this is so. Make of that what you will. Two opticians have told me to try this or that pair of glasses. (For a price naturally) I will post again if I find something that proves helpful.

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Re: Night Driving.

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Dec 05, 2016 11:52 am

Slamm wrote:I drive for a living and I find the HID head lights a real pain in the ass. How these things passed safety standards is beyond me, and as you say in wet conditions very difficult driving.
The day driving lights bug me as well, emergency vehicles with flashing head lights are barley noticeable on a busy motorway nowadays.
And while i'm having a moan, LED brake lights in the dark and people that keep there foot on the brake pedal :evil:

Time for a change in career I think :lol:
That's another reason i prefer LED headlight bulbs, less stray light scatter. By the very nature of the beast, any form of discharge lamp is very difficult to focus, even with the most stringent quality controls as they don't have a proper filament, just the discharge of electricity from one electrode to another in a gas, a bit like the ignition stroke in an engine.
With the LEDs, particularly the better/more expensive ones, the light source is very small and similar in size/shape to the filament it replaces so the light output/beam pattern remains unaffected in shape and scatter, it's just brighter and more defined.
That said i have got HID bulbs in the inner lights on the coupé but they only come on with full beam and give a reasonably good beam pattern and not much light scatter. I've yet to try some in the front fogs and driving lamps on the Volvo but daresay i will at some point.

The day running lights (as in the really bright ones, particularly French and German cars) can be a real pain - the idea is they shouldn't be that bright, just bright enough to see in daylight and (in theory at least) should go out with the main lights on. In terms of light output they should be about the same as a set of reversing lights, not like those foreign ones are that are more like Nightsun search lights! :shock: :wink: :D
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by traineefarmer » Mon Dec 05, 2016 8:56 pm

I don't know if this is applicable to anyone, but I have been wearing disposable contact lenses for 20 years now (not the same pair... ) and they beat glasses hands down for driving, especially at night.
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Dec 05, 2016 9:24 pm

traineefarmer wrote:I don't know if this is applicable to anyone, but I have been wearing disposable contact lenses for 20 years now (not the same pair... ) and they beat glasses hands down for driving, especially at night.
As someone who doesn't wear glasses (or contacts), this might be a silly question but if you've been wearing disposable contacts for 20 years, how would you know they are better than glasses? :?
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by traineefarmer » Mon Dec 05, 2016 10:03 pm

Because when I do something daft to myself (get some crap in my eyes at work for instance), go swimming, get tired and dry eyes or I manage to blink one out and lose it - I have to wear my glasses again.

I quickly realise why have stuck with contacts all these years.

They're were also great in my younger years for winning drunken pub bets by having poke-yourself-in-the-eye competitions.
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Dec 05, 2016 10:30 pm

That makes sense, i was thinking more along the lines of having to wear your glasses once a month to rest your eyes or something but that didn't stack up against the way you phrased it originally.

Jeeez, you drank in some strange pubs! :wink: :lol:
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by traineefarmer » Tue Dec 06, 2016 10:07 pm

Two words....

Young Farmers.
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by scoobyh123 » Tue Dec 06, 2016 10:37 pm

traineefarmer wrote:Two words....

Young Farmers.
Say no more! :lol:
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Re: Night Driving.

Post by zcar12 » Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:22 am

I have now had a chance to try the grey polarized glasses to see if they helped with driving at night compared to the dark blue glasses I had. I have not found that they help me with night driving. I still have an amber tinted set on order.

I think a part of my problem may be attributed to a pitted and scratched windscreen. Driving into a low sun makes the screen seem to "white out", so to speak. This is due to a build up of pits and scratches over the years, which scatters the light. I would like to try a glass polishing kit on the the screen. Can any who has tried this approach and had a good experience, recommend a particular kit?

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Re: Night Driving.

Post by scoobyh123 » Thu Dec 15, 2016 12:51 pm

Have you cleaned the inside of the screen recently Nick? Sounds daft i know but often there is an almost invisible film of dirt, dust, grime and whatever else on the inside of the screen and with oncoming lights or low sun, this can cause the "whiteout" effect. Usually on the outside, regardless of the pits, scratches and stone chips, there's enough glass that has been recently cleaned by the wipers with or without the screen washers to see clearly through.
This means the primary culprit for the whiteout is the inside nine times out of ten. I use a glass cleaner from Toolstation and a microfibre cloth from Wilkos designed for glass and mirrors on the inside (and sometimes the outside) of the glass and mirrors on the car :

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Cleanin ... ner/p85116

Comes with a screw-on trigger spray so is nice and easy to use - worth a try before condemning the screen itself.

About that bit - i looked into the possibilities of polishing the screen on my coupé. There are very many pitfalls to polishing a screen using one of the umpteen million or so kits available to do it. One of the biggest problems is the fact the screens are laminated, in effect two panes of glass with an optically pure plastic substance between them.

You know when you look through your double glazed lounge window and the image is distorted? That's all too easily recreated unless you can guarantee perfect pressure, time and speed on each part of the screen to ensure the screen remains a uniform thickness.
There are many companies around that will polish the screen for you but obviously at a price. They have insurance so if they louse it up you get a new screen on them.

If your insurance provides windscreen replacement and it really bothers you after cleaning the inside, go back to Toolstation, buy an automatic centre punch and put a "stone chip" into the drivers main field of view then use that as an excuse to get the screen replaced on your insurance. Make sure your insurers windscreen people have a screen in stock first though!
Alternatively put the "stone chip" near the edge or a corner, where they're unlikely to be able to offer a repair service instead of a replacement - either way it's likely to crack especially this time of year!

If you really want to try polishing out the pits and scratches yourself, use one of the better kits available, it will cost more but you can see for yourself which kits are better. The basic ones come with just the powder usually, the better ones come with various pads and other things to help ensure you get a good result. Use a DA (Dual Action) sander/polisher to provide the polishing action, much more consistent (and quicker and easier) than using your hands.

Oh yeah - if you do polish your screen, please do a write-up (preferably with pictures!) so we can all see what's involved, if it's worth the effort and so on.
Cheers,
Dave

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Re: Night Driving.

Post by Slamm » Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:40 pm

I must admit having just had a new windscreen fitted (eventually) the difference is very noticeable, especially in poor weather and the dark.
I would be inclined to agree with Dave about polishing and maybe getting distortion though.
How much is your windscreen excess, might not be much more for a new screen than messing with polishers

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