Headlight glare

[Noggin]

FWIW

https://www.laramyk.com/resources/educa ... g-glasses/

That's interesting as I was thinking on the low light goggle lenses I've got - they are pink, where all low light lenses used to be yellow.

Maybe I should try those over my driving glasses

[Scootabout]

FWIW

https://www.laramyk.com/resources/educa ... g-glasses/

Interesting, although they say:
"when driving at night or dusk in already limited lighting conditions, ANY tint further reduces the amount of light transmitted to the eye and further impairs vision",
then go on to recommend their own lenses, which seem to have a red tint....

[The Spin Doctor]

I’ve tried a pair of those yellow tinted specs. They may reduce headlight glare, but they also reduce contrast, and that has the effect in the dark of making it more difficult to distinguish the difference between tarmac and verge on country roads, or kerb in urban areas, especially when there are approaching headlights. So not for me thanks.

I've not noticed that - in fact, for me they enhance contrast because they take out the blue light.

[Wossname]

I know that's what they claim, but I found them a distinct disadvantage in practice.

[The Spin Doctor]

I know that's what they claim, but I found them a distinct disadvantage in practice.

Fair do's... none of us have exactly the same eyesight.

[Count Steer]

I know that's what they claim, but I found them a distinct disadvantage in practice.

I was reading about the claims for yellow tinted specs for night driving yesterday. (I think it was in this months Which? magazine - I'll check later).
Overall, the opthalmic people said 'bad idea/no overall advantage' as they actually darken the dark areas. Maybe increasing contrast has disadvantages.
Having used yellow camera filters for b&w photography, I can see why that might be.

[Ditchfinder]

New one on me yesterday, daylight conditions, I'm sat at at-junction waiting for a gap to turn left, cars coming towards me from the right with lights on and turns left, I start berating then for not indicating and then stop as I see from the side they were indicating, I just couldn't tell because of the headlight glare. In daylight!

[Horse]

I was reading about the claims for yellow tinted specs for night driving yesterday.

Overall, the opthalmic people said 'bad idea/no overall advantage' as they actually darken the dark areas.

See the link I posted.

[Count Steer]

I was reading about the claims for yellow tinted specs for night driving yesterday.

Overall, the opthalmic people said 'bad idea/no overall advantage' as they actually darken the dark areas.

See the link I posted.

I thought it was a bit strange, they go to great lengths to diss yellow tint specs in order to sell 'tinted' specs. OK, neodymium doped glass is a bit special as it changes tint depending on the wavelengths hitting it - purple/light grey - but a) I don't know how quickly it reacts and b) the study referenced is 18 years old.

I'll see if I can find what I was reading yesterday.

[Count Steer]

Found it. It is in this months Which? Pretty much as said ^^^ 2019 study says tinted glass darkens dark areas, some yellow tints help people with certain eye diseases - in bright conditions.
a) if you don't need specs, non-prescription glasses with anti-glare coatings makes things worse
b) if you wear prescription specs for driving faint green or blue hue anti-glare/reflection coatings may help but only if you have to wear specs anyway

Is suspect people put yellow specs on and see a difference but ignore the deterioration in other aspects of night driving/riding.

Lots of stuff out there like:

'A study published in the journal "Optometry and Vision Science" found that yellow-tinted lenses reduced the discomforting glare from oncoming headlights but did not improve overall visibility or contrast sensitivity. Another study in 2019 found that night driving glasses did not improve reaction times or target detection in a night time driving simulator, In fact, it reached the conclusion that night driving glasses actually did slow down users’ visual reflexes (although only by a fraction of a second), but still making their night vision worse compared to when they weren’t wearing these.'

From here: https://www.contactlenses.co.uk/educati ... ir%20night

[The Spin Doctor]

study published in the journal "Optometry and Vision Science" found that yellow-tinted lenses reduced the discomforting glare from oncoming headlights but did not improve overall visibility or contrast sensitivity.

They're not saying that it REDUCED overall visibility or contrast sensitivity!
So if it had one positive effect and no negative effect, isn't that an overall positive??

[Count Steer]

study published in the journal "Optometry and Vision Science" found that yellow-tinted lenses reduced the discomforting glare from oncoming headlights but did not improve overall visibility or contrast sensitivity.

They're not saying that it REDUCED overall visibility or contrast sensitivity!
So if it had one positive effect and no negative effect, isn't that an overall positive??

That's just one selective quote though.

Another optometry study review: https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/artic ... ht-driving

"You may want to tell your patients to ditch their yellow-lens night driving glasses. A study in JAMA Ophthalmology reports these tinted lenses don’t improve road visibility or diminish glare and halos, and may actually worsen visibility in some cases.

Whether a person is wearing yellow, red or blue lenses, they all cut out a portion of light, which basically equates to wearing sunglasses when driving at night, says lead study investigator Alex Hwang, PhD, professor at the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology.

While people who wear the yellow-lens night driving glasses may feel as though they are able to see more “brightly,” their vision is not really improved, he adds. In fact, this perception may actually make overall night driving riskier because the wearer may be overconfident about their night vision..."

[Scootabout]

Another optometry study review: https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/artic ... ht-driving

Seems to be quite a small sample - 22 subjects - and an even smaller sub-sample of older drivers, 4 subjects. How reliable are the results, I wonder?

[The Spin Doctor]

"You may want to tell your patients to ditch their yellow-lens night driving glasses. A study in JAMA Ophthalmology reports these tinted lenses don’t improve road visibility or diminish glare and halos, and may actually worsen visibility in some cases.

Whether a person is wearing yellow, red or blue lenses, they all cut out a portion of light, which basically equates to wearing sunglasses when driving at night, says lead study investigator Alex Hwang, PhD, professor at the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology.

Well, that's a dubious statement, even if the JAMA Ophthalmology journal is peer reviewed!

Yes, they cut out light on the YELLOW WAVELENGTHS.

But we don't see all wavelengths with equal acuity. If I remember right, we're most sensitive to light in the green part of the spectrum during the day. I don't know about night-time vision. So it's not like 'wearing sunglasses' if those sunglasses are designed to reduce overall light transmission.

And of course, there are drivers who are colour-blind.

Under normal circumstances, I would agree that any coloured glasses won't improve night vision... but with a lot of glare from numerous vehicles particularly when reflected light is bouncing off a wet surface and when the streets are also illuminated I have found them helpful.

[Horse]

Yes, they cut out light on the YELLOW WAVELENGTHS.

But we don't see all wavelengths with equal acuity. If I remember right, we're most sensitive to light in the green part of the spectrum during the day. I don't know about night-time vision.

There's something call 'Punjink Shift' ... or something ... for nighttime colour sensitivity.

Re colour let through, won't yellow let 'yellow' (which is a mix of red & green light) through but reduce red and green and stop blue? Depending on the actual filter effect of the lens.









A bit like the old low pressure sodium orange streetlights. You saw orange or black, no other colours.




It's been years since I looked at this (sic), then it was for nighttime PPE conspicuity, under streetlights and headlamps (tungsten, HID, LED).

[Horse]

https://www.google.com/search?q=purkinj ... e&ie=UTF-8

[The Spin Doctor]

I tried out the yellow specs for the first time in a while tonight... blue-white lights were less dazzling... flipping the glasses up and down, I couldn't detect any real difference in my ability to see cyclists or pedestrians under good street lighting. Whilst stopped at lights, I did watch an all-black / no lights cyclist disappear into the blackness on a poorly lit street. I lost sight of him about a quarter of a mile away.

That's around 350 metres... at 20 mph or 9 metres per second, and assuming I would see the bike at the same time as I lost sight of it, I would have spotted him over 30 seconds away. Even if I only saw the bike at half that distance, it's still 15 seconds.

[Horse]

An ad for tinted glasses popped up on Insta.

With (video in the ad) a before and after demo

20240130_080127.jpg (114.82 KiB) Viewed 953 times

20240130_080105.jpg (151.09 KiB) Viewed 953 times

I was interested to note how the skyline of trees disappeared.


Better still, the website offers this gizmo:

20240130_080042.jpg (277.07 KiB) Viewed 953 times

[Horse]

One other thing. Like wearing corrective spectacles, they will need to be kept clean a scratch-free.

And, even if 'clear' rather than tinted, they would still reflect some light, so reducing light transmitted through.

OK, so two things.

An anti-reflection coating will increase transmission.

Three ...

[The Spin Doctor]

I've given up polishing my eyeballs... just made things worse.