The traffic death rates have risen up to 3 times higher at night than those during the day. According to the National Safety Council. Night driving presents challenges for all the drivers. Driving at night is risky for some 32 percent of drivers who say they fail to see while driving at least part of the time at sunrise / sunset and after the sun goes down, because of Dips onto the lane, Lane markups, Glare to the headlight and much more. Whether you are wearing glasses or not, driving at night can be both a challenge and a burden on the eyes. Due to reduced vision distance and exposure to the contrast between darkness and bright lights along roadways, senior drivers usually faces substantially increased risk.

Unlike most optical systems, the eye’s crystalline lens changes shape to concentrate light from objects over a great range of the retina distances. Therefore, over the years, the optical lenses in our eyes often tend to grow cloudier and stiffer, making it harder to concentrate and growing glare sensitivity. All of this combines to make driving in the night harder over time. This can be an extremely difficult adjustment to make every year for those people who are without perfect eyesight and we should all take careful note of the dangers of driving at night.

Night driving is riskier, because 90 percent of a driver’s performance depends on how much he is able to see at the moment, and this factor is severely restricted during the night.  Driver fatigue / exhaustion / drowsiness complicates driving by decreasing focus and slowing down the reaction time. Driving at night also means meeting large numbers of nocturnal animals, such as raccoons and opossums, as well as other bigger, more lethal, and more dangerous animals, such as deer, elk, and moose, which can cause severe harm.

The most efficient strategy to avoid this is to reduce your speed as quickly as possible without having to leave your lane or drive off the road. There are a number of solutions and aids available to help drivers with mild to moderate driving problems at night. These include wearing driving glasses for the night, having plenty of sleep, and eating healthy eye foods including broccoli, sweet potatoes, and spinach for good eye care. Another easy consideration is to ensure that the windows and windshield are clear, and that the headlights are not over fogged.

Assuring the best night vision possibly starts with making sure the eyes are healthy first. It means having regular checks and always carrying current prescriptions. The American Optometric Association recommends that everybody under 40 should see Optometrists at least every three years for a thorough eye exam; drivers 41-60 every two years; and drivers over 60 every year. Aging will make eyes more glaringly responsive. Have your eyeglass prescription checked regularly and testing the eyes for eye care in both vision and safety aids in night driving. Optometry recommend contact lenses and eye glasses and at some optometry clinics, vision therapy and low-vision care is also provided.

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