Driving at night

I too hate driving in the dark. You get people wearing dark clothes sauntering slowly across the road in front of you. Don't they know it's difficult to see them in the dark? I think it is an age thing as my mum hated driving in the dark in her 60s too.

I wear glasses or contacts and know my sight is excellent with them but that doesn’t help with the glare of oncoming headlights. I also don’t think my headlights are great. I’ll drive ok in the town but country roads are awful

I am 78 and find the glare of these new modern headlights the main problem! When a normal old car comes my way I am ok. My friend is the same and she is off a similar age. also the rear brakelights of the new cars a awful when people keep their foot on the brake in a slow moving line. It is those fancy beady lights.

I'm 67 and have also suffered from the problem with night driving for a few years and it's getting worse. Driving in well lit urban areas with less contrast between car lights and street lights is better but I find freeway driving with dark patches interspersed with very bright oncoming lights leaves me quite blinded for an unsafe period.

My optometrist said what I described was consistent with the age related changes in my eyes. It is also true that modern cars have increasingly bright head lights and the only thing she could suggest was averting my eyes as much as was safe and not looking at the oncoming headlights. I try to drive only during the daytime these days and am very nice to those who still drive. I trade by being a good navigator.

Those rear window break lights can be glary too specially in wet weather.

I hear the supplement Macushield improves night vision. It's readily available at Boots but rather pricey unfortunately. It was reviewed by Dr. Michael Mosley on that TV programme Trust Me I'm a Doctor....he said he is not in favour of any supplements, except this one. If you believe him ...!

So pleased it's not just me.

I can't say I like driving at night but I am determined to keep doing it because I don't want to limit my life unless it's absolutely necessary.
I'm a firm believer in 'use it or lose it' - i.e. the less you do it, the less you'll want to do it and the more difficult you'll find it.
In fact, I find night driving easier if I've been doing it for a few days on the trot than if I haven't done it for a little while.
I'm very quite short sighted (with astigmatism) and have been all my life but glasses do correct my vision to near normal.
Almost everyone finds driving at night more challenging - it's not necessarily an age-related thing. And it's easy to give up on it but then where does that leave you?

I'm so glad I'm not alone. My eyesight is very good and I don't need glasses for driving but like all you others I hate night driving because of headlight glare from cars coming towards me. I know you should not look into the headlights, you should look at the kerb or verge to your left, but that doesn't always help. My worst time is when a cyclist pops up in front of me in the dark and I cannot overtake because I know there is a bend coming up or because oncoming car headlights are obscuring my vision. I often wonder if night time cyclists with insufficient reflective clothing and only a faint red back light actually realise how much danger they are in from car drivers who can't easily see them.

The glaring lights problem usually means you have cataracts forming and need to see an optitian.

I have difficulties with night driving (am 64). My eyes dont adjust fast enough. If I look at something bright, for example the oncoming car or maybe glance into the mirror to see what the car behind is doing, my eyes take just those few odd seconds longer to adjust from the brightness of their headlights to the darkness. It doesnt make any difference with special glasses, its the contrast in the light levels. No doubt its an entirely normal age related issue. My eyesight is checked regularly and my distance driving specs are new, but of course the optician isnt testing for the eye adjusting from light to dark. My daughter was in the car with me one evening and remarked how slowly I drive at night and I explained it to her and said I think its the only answer. I am not unsafe as such so long as I drive within the limits of what I feel I can cope with. Bad luck to those people following me down dark country lanes after dark. I am very, very aware there could be a cyclist with no reflective clothing wobbling along out there somewhere and I wont even vaguely take any chances.

I stopped driving in the dark many years ago and haven't driven at all for the past 8 - fortunately we live in London and have great public transport - but a friend whose eyesight isn't much better than mine continues to drive and it's quite scary being in the car with her at night. I see things that she misses! My optician said I should stop a few years ago and was relieved when I told her I already had.

I have the same problem! It took me a long time to get used to not staring straight into headlights...and things have improved. I think it might also depend on how tall you..I'm quite short so lower down in the car...and am almost level with oncoming headlights! Headlights at night and low hanging daytime sun in Autumn and Spring are my bugbears...Anti-glare glasses do nothing for me in the car!

I worked nightshifts before I retired. In the winter I often had to drive both ways in the dark. I am not a nervous driver, but now that I've been retired for a few years I must admit that I would rather not drive in the dark.

Thanks for all your comments ladies, it's nice to know I'm not alone with this. I have no choice other than to drive in the dark through the winter as I am still working, but I try to leave work later so that I miss the worst of rush hour (although traffic seems to be dire where I live most of the time!), and I will often take an alternative route if it feels safer/easier even if it puts a couple of minutes on my journey. Stay safe all!

This evening I was reminded that there is light level that DH and I have both found very difficult to drive in for all our driving lives, so it is not an age thing and that is driving in twilight and dusk.

That period of light when you need lights on to be seen but the lights are not quite visible on the road. I had to drive some 30 miles from a town I know well and had these light conditions for about half the journey.

Admittedly today there was a lot of rain, but in the half light it was very difficult to see road markings and all the lights car and street were reflected from the wet road surfaces.

As soon as it got properly dark the roads ceased to reflect light and road markings became visible. I had the usual problems not finding night driving as easy as it was, but it was still easier than the dusk driving.

I am seriously thinking of changing my route if it’s still a problem- would add a mile to my journey but would be worth it.

I had that experience too, nearing the top of a hill where there was a blind corner - like looking at a sheet of gold. From then on I used a different route at this time of year.

I am 58 and have been struggling with night driving for the past couple of years. I used to laugh at my 80 + year old father when he said that he had to get home before it got dark when he used to drive to see us which was about 13 miles away from where he lived. I work full time so dread the winter months when I have to drive at night along a busy, winding road. The other problem I've had this week is with the sun being so low. On Monday I was blinded by the sun when driving to work. I have never been so scared in my life. Any suggestions for driving when the sun is low at this time of the year? I wore sunglasses but they didn't make a scrape of difference.

Hate night driving and avoid it if at all possible when it's raining.

I loathe driving at night and avoid it like the plague if I can. I don't like having the GC in the car at night because I find it so difficult as other have mentioned, the problem being the glare of headlights from oncoming traffic. Roundabouts are a nightmare. I had cataracts removed some years ago but still have a problem with one eye - though the consultant says I'm fine to drive. I remember before the cataract operation I was seeing double the number of headlights! That was soooo scary. At least it's not THAT bad now but I don't venture out if I don't have to which means I do miss out on things from time to time. Still better safe and all that!

NICE have recently changed the guidance on cataract removal. It is a nine page document and can be found on their website. It does say do not restrict access to cataract surgery on visual acuity. Also states that, among other things, discussions should be held with patient and their family/carers as to how the cataract affects the persons vision and their quality of life.

Thank you for this thread. Although not great to hear, it was reassuring that others have difficulty driving in the dark. Interesting MOnica's comment we need 50% more light at 70 than we do at 30. I plan to limit my driving to day time driving. I understand better now why some people want to leave early before dark.

I was never an enthusiastic driver and I had to drive as part of my work but now the increase in the volume of traffic makes it less appealing, Then when we get there how do we park and get out of the car with all these large 4x4s and other monsters overlapping into our parking space.

Lastly, is the NHS's cut back on cataract operations endangering life's? If you have to wait until your cataract is advanced before you can be referred many older drivers will be driving with reduced vision. It is not that you can't be operated on earlier as you can if you have the money to pay privately. It is right we should not be drivng if our sight is reduced but for many people getting to work and coping with eceryday life makes the decision to not drive very difficult.

It doesn't help that I meet a lot of tractors, and even with their headlights dimmed (if indeed they are, the tractor boys round here think they own the roads ) because they are high, and my car is low, you get the light straight in the eyes!

Plus they all have their Orange whirly lights on.........

thecatgrandma There is a difference between one's eyesight not being up to scratch and admitting that you are finding driving in some circumstances more difficult.

I have an eye test every year because my family has a history of glaucoma so I know that my sight is well over the DVLA minimum. However that doesn't stop night driving being less easy than in the past.

There are many drivers, many well under 50 who have difficulties with one or other aspect of driving from never going on motorways to refusing to park if it will be necessary to reverse in or out, nobody ever suggests that they should stop driving.