What to Know About Night Vision While Driving

The issue of poor or compromised night vision is far more common that many of us realize. Take a moment to consider how many fellow road users with whom you share the road on any given night may have night vision issues. Accidents or the factors that lead to accidents occur in a split second. Poor lighting is just as much of an issue as being blinded by an oncoming bright light when driving at nights. Many people will admit that they have issues with night vision, but rather than do something about it, they try to learn to live with it.

The longer you take to resolve issues with night vision, the more it will deteriorate. For your own safety, that of your passengers and other road users, you need to be proactive about your eye health. You need to have a good level of alertness and good vision for night time driving. There are steps you can take to maintain good night vision. Rick Hendrick Chevrolet in Buford wants you to keep safe on the roads at all times. Here are a look a few important factors you should know about night vision.

Understanding Night Vision

If you have difficulty focusing at nights or find that your vision is affected by the glare from oncoming headlights and traffic lights, you may be suffering from astigmatism. This is a condition where the eye curvature makes light get distorted, and can be corrected by the wearing of prescription lenses with anti-glare coatings. This corrective measure improves contrast, reduce glare sensitivity and improve depth perception.

Night vision is actually a more serious condition called nyctalopia and is an extension of astigmatism. At this point, the individual’s vision would have deteriorated to the point where they find it very difficult to see in the dark. This often becomes more pronounced when moving from a lighted area to a dark area.

What can cause night vision loss?

A distortion of the cells in the retina that are responsible for seeing in dim light results in night blindness and night vision loss. Vitamin A deficiency, cataracts, glaucoma, and genetic defects like retinitis pigmentosa (a serious degenerative eye disease) and Usher syndrome are among the various factors that can affect the retina and lead to night blindness.

Preventative Measures for Night Blindness

Eye conditions like genetic defects that cause night blindness simply cannot be prevented. Others like cataract and glaucoma, once they get to a certain stage, cannot be improved. In such cases the individual should avoid driving at nights and be extra careful driving during the day. Other conditions can be corrected or improved with a proper diet or prescription glasses.

Vitamin A deficiency is not common in the developed world and can be corrected with vitamin A rich foods and supplements. A diet rich in vitamin A, antioxidant vitamins and minerals is recommended, and would include milk and eggs, sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, mangoes, spinach and other greens.

Have your eyes tested at least once every two years or more regularly if you have an eye condition. Diet well and take care of any underlying health conditions.