Sunglasses for Driving?

[Cadillac Jim]

Yeah, I'm due for an eye exam now. My usual is trifocals, Transitions, with optical coating which doubles for anti-scratch coating. None of the online guys do trifocals, so I think I'll get the prescription, get some prescription polarized sunglasses online, and after they come in I'll give up my existing frames to save $100++ on my usual non-sunglasses. I'm thinking that glass isn't worth the price difference. I've never scratched my plastic lenses, and I switched from glass because the weight was causing problems with my nose because I like big lenses.

[JohnnyG]

So, what would be the lightest tint, brown colored, polarized, glasses that could be worn at night to reduce the glare of headlights off the pavement, and sharpen vision through fog etc?

[Cadillac Jim]

Since you will have at least 50% light blockage with any polarized lens (look at a polarized camera filter for an example of this), I think you might want another solution. I think that a yellow tint might do it. Why not call one of these online eyeglasses houses and ask about glasses for night driving? I know that they will recommend anti-reflection coating, but ask them about a light tint that could help.

[JohnnyG]

Since you will have at least 50% light blockage with any polarized lens (look at a polarized camera filter for an example of this), I think you might want another solution. I think that a yellow tint might do it. Why not call one of these online eyeglasses houses and ask about glasses for night driving? I know that they will recommend anti-reflection coating, but ask them about a light tint that could help.

Which brings us back to the original post and the pictures that Bruce put up. The top photo does not appear tp be 50% tint to me, more like 15%. I am going to wait until Bruce gets his pair and hopefully reports back on how they work at night. The add says they are polarized.

You see, polarization is a very important part of what I'm looking for, hoping that it will cut headlight glare and reflections off of the wet pavement at night. The slight yellow/brown tint will increase contrast, much like shooting glasses, as well as maybe turn the bluish light of HID headlights into something easier on my eyes.

[Bruce Nunnally]

Still studying pricing at the different web sources for progressive prescription sunglasses with the nightdriver lenses. I just got a new prescription so that step is complete.

[Cadillac Jim]

Father Physics tells us that a good polarizers can't transmit more than 50% of the light. Photos can be deceiving about things like that. For example, we know from zone theory that the range of brightness of a picture is about seven "stops" or factors of two, and from physiology that the human eye sees a percentage change in brightness as the same contrast regardless of the light level that is being changed by that percentage. That's why 8 bits grayscale, or 24 bits color (8 bits per color) are good enough for pictures unless you are going to be changing the brightness, color balance, or contrast in the computer, and often even then. A 50% light blockage in a picture looks like about 1/7, or 15% in a picture.

A 50% light blockage at night isn't the end of the world, but it is probably not legal for driving glasses at night. Check your state driving laws about sunglasses at night. I wouldn't do it, in part because of the light loss, but more for the fact that at night you don't have the main benefit of the polarization: reduction of reflected glare from the sun, particularly on the hood and dash, and reduction of sky brightness. You may see some benefit in reduction of reflected headlight glare on the hood but that would be essentially unnoticeable in the glare from the headlights themselves.

[JohnnyG]

Bruce, did you ever get your Drivewear perscription sunglasses?

I looked at a pair at my local optometrist today. The nightime (lightest) tint appeared to be about 80% transmission, so I'm pretty certain that they will work at night to reduce headlight glare.

What do you think about them?

[eyeoptix]

What's great about the Drivewear lenses is that they change color based on current driving conditions in order to enhance the driver's vision. Check out http://www.bestbuyeyeglasses.com/lenses.html and avail of the 36% off retail prices plus options to customize your lenses.

[Marika]

I recently ordered two pair of glasses from Zenni Optical. The total for both pair, $45.00!!

I ordered the same frame for both glasses but one of them I had tinted gray 80%. Great glasses. Thanks for sharing this website.

[JohnnyG]

Strangely enough, I was thinking of digging up this old post just yesterday, as I was driving back from Pittsburgh. This post is just over a year old, and I've been using my Drivewear glasses for just under a year. I bought them after reading the post of course and needed to find out for myself how they performed. My verdict is finally in, they're GREAT for daytime driving!

I have found that even though the polarization in the lens is somewhat variable near the edges, the main part of the lens has more than enough to provide excellent eye comfort in all daytime seeing/driving conditions, and excellent glare reduction. The tint not only changes density according to sun exposure, but also slightly shifts in color spectrum. What this means is on cloudy days they are more yellowish (which enhances contrast) and on sunny days they shift toward brown (which provides greater brightness reduction). Road glare is always reduced or eliminated by the polarizing lenses.

On a trip back from Florida this spring, I wore the glasses for 8 hrs straight during one leg of the trip. My eyes NEVER got tired or "itchy" duting that whole time. Yesterday's drive to Pittsburgh was overcast and hazy, so I decided to change to my regular glasses partway through the trip. To my amazement, I could actually see better with the Drivewear glasses on, due to the yellow tint cutting the haze and enhancing contrast.

They are NOT tinted lightly enough to use at night, so don't try it. Father physics is right on the money with the light absorbtion at about 50%, even though it seems like much less during the day. These are definite winners in my book!