Many drivers experienced glare from oncoming headlights or street lights at night. Glare can cause discomfort and reduce their quality of night vision when driving. Besides causing discomfort, they are also distracting for the drivers which is unsafe for both the driver and passenger. To reduce glare, many drivers opt for driving glasses such as ZEISS DriveSafe, Hoya Enroute, Essilor Crizal Drive.
What is Glare?
Glares are visual impairment produced by intense light, it can occur directly or by reflection. It interferes with your vision, making it difficult to see. Glare can be experience not only during the day, but also during night time.
Causes of Glare
- Age
- Uncorrected eye power
- Astigmatism
- Eye diseases
- Dry Eyes
- Cataract
- Side effects of surgery
- Cataract surgery
- Refractive surgery eg, LASIK
How to reduce Glare?
| Cause of Glare | Ways to Reduce Glare |
| Age | Sunglasses Photochromic lenses – Eg, ZEISS Photofusion, Transition Driving lenses – Eg, ZEISS DriveSafe, Hoya Enroute, Essilor Crizal Drive |
| Uncorrected eye power | Update new prescription |
| Eye diseases – Dry Eyes – Cataract | – Non-preservative eye drops – Cataract surgery (If severity of cataract is high and it’s affecting daily activities) |
| Side effects of surgery | Sunglasses Photochromic lenses – Eg, ZEISS Photofusion , Transition Driving lenses – Eg, ZEISS DriveSafe, Hoya Enroute, Essilor Crizal Drive |
It is dangerous to use sunglasses under dim or dark conditions (rainy day / night time) when driving. Also, photochromic lenses only turns dark when there is UV ray. Hence, if the car windows are UV protected or during night time, the photochromic lenses will not turn dark. However, driving lenses such as ZEISS DriveSafe, Hoya Enroute, Essilor Crizal Drive ensures maximal ability to see the surrounding environment for safe night driving.
ZEISS DriveSafe
ZEISS DriveSafe is a specially designed lens to meet the vision needs of people who want to feel safer and more comfortable when they are driving. 97% of the drivers felt that ZEISS DriveSafe satistied their needs ( ZEISS DriveSafe Lenses, 2015). It is available in both single vision and progressive lenses.
Features of ZEISS DriveSafe
ZEISS DriveSafe Lens Design
ZEISS DriveSafe is also available in progressive. To make it easier for progressive wearer to quickly refocus between the road, dashboard and mirrors, DriveSafe Progressive have enhanced the distance and intermediate viewing zone. This reduce wearers’ horizontal head movement. As compared to ZEISS premium progressive lenses, ZEISS DriveSafe have:
- Up to 43% larger mid distance zone
- Up to 14% larger far distance zone
Benefits of ZEISS DriveSafe
Hoya Enroute
With a specially developed Glare Filter, Hoya Enroute provides better contrast and brightness perception in dim conditions, fog and rain. Their lens design is also optimised for the viewing distance to dashboard and mirrors. Hoya Enroute is available in both single vision and progressive.
Essilor Crizal Drive
Crizal Drive is a lens coating which have up to 90% lesser reflection as compared to normal lenses. It minimizes the reflections from your surrounding lights which allows you to drive more safely and confidently at night. Crizal Drive is available is both single vision and progressive, it can be combined with Varilux and more.
Which Driving glasses is right for you
These 3 driving glasses are similar and they do the same thing. However, for ZEISS DriveSafe, you can further upgrade the performance of the lens by including ZEISS I.Scription. ZEISS DriveSafe lenses with I.Scription technology takes into account your eye profile and pupil size in dim condition to design the lens. Therefore, improving your vision. ZEISS I. Scription provide better night vision, colour vision, improve clarity and contrast.
For ZEISS DriveSafe with I.Scription, more measurements will need to be taken using the i.Profiler to analyse the profile of your eyes.
Driving glasses @ Evershine Optical
Driving glasses such as ZEISS DriveSafe, Hoya Enroute, Essilor Crizal Drive are available @ Evershine Optical. To find out what is the cause of the glare which you are experiencing and whether driving glasses will benefit you, optometrists at Evershine Optical will conduct a comprehensive eye examination:
- Refraction test
- Check eye power for distance and how much reading power is needed for near
- Eye health check
- Assess the health of the front and back part of the eyes
Who will benefit from Driving glasses?
People who drive will benefit from driving glasses, especially taxi drivers, bus drivers and more.
Also, for people who experience glare that are not able to be resolved which can be due to either cataract surgery, lasik, aging, driving glasses will help reduce the glare. For Progressive driving glasses, we will need to take more measurements such as the distance between the eyes using ZEISS i terminal. If you choose ZEISS Drivesafe , the performance of the lenses can be further enhanced with ZEISS I.scription .
No symptoms of glare, can I still use driving glasses?
Yes, even if you do not experience any glare, you can still use driving glasses. Not only does driving glasses reduce glare, they can also help enhance your vision and contrast which will improve your driving performance. For progressive wearer, progressive driving glasses can also help you to focus more quickly at different distances (eg, road, signboard and mirrors).
Experience glare? Unsure whether driving glasses will benefit you? Book an appointment with us @ 88461234 now.
References
- Crizal Drive. Essilor.
- Hoya Enroute. HOYA.
- Zeiss DriveSafe White Paper. (2015).