[bdutta]

Tried searching quite thoroughly to see if there were any existing threads covering this topic, but surprising found none. Mods, feel free to correct me and merge the thread accordingly.

Folks,

Looks for suggestions on driving glasses, especially for driving in the night, that minimizes glare, ideally is polarized. Preferably that doesn't have any tinting (I see some tacky yellow-tinted glasses on sale on Amazon, which are advertised as polarized but most users report them as fakes as they have little to no polarization effective).

I do not wear glasses (only use reading glasses sometimes), but the lights of oncoming vehicles on undivided highways causes some serious headache, eye-pain and fatigue.

cherrs,
B

[Night Raven]

I am in the same situation as yours. Most days I return home from work at night and glare from the oncoming traffic is really troublesome. This is especially worse for me because I drive mostly on two lane Kerala roads. I searched a lot for anti glare options but found nothing really useful.
Hoping to get some suggestions from other members.

[greenhorn]

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...eadlights.html (Glare protection from oncoming headlights)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...t-driving.html (Spectacle lenses for safer night driving)

[bdutta]

Thanks for the super relevant links. The options seem super expensive -- and having lost good money on progressive lens to which I could never adjust, wary of going down the Carl Zeiss route, however it is still good to know that solution exists.

Actually, I had found a very mildly yellow-tinted polarized, zero-power pair of shades in US (more than a decade back), which served me well there and few years in India unless they were stolen.

I've been looking for similar glasses ever since, without managing to find them. The polarized glasses available s.a. from Fasttrac or RayBan are pretty decent, but most of them come with very strong tint, which makes them useless for night-driving.

[greenhorn]

For me, i found that the number 1 cause of glare is the windshield. My 7 year old car windshield had been scratched to death by random car washers, and replacing it helped immensely. I realised this when i was driving a friend's car and noticed glare was a lot less. Also you need to keep your windshield obsessively clean. Washing and wiping helps on the outside but junk accumulates on the inside too which needs periodic cleaning.

Finally i was not a big fan of the yellow glasses. I found umr sweet spot was a gradient glass with grey at the top and yellow at the bottom (polarized)

[bdutta]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

For me, i found that the number 1 cause of glare is the windshield.

Thanks, I can absolutely understand that. I've been thinking along those lines too. Only that it seems a bit extreme for the tiny %age of night time driving done over the years to change the windshield, and the fact that I would barely manage to ensure the new glass being scratchfree for very long. I've heard some some rubbing compounds (perhaps not too different from white colgate) that can be used to polish-off minor scratches, though not sure if the scratches that cause significant light dispersion and glare will go away with that, become worse !

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Finally i was not a big fan of the yellow glasses. I found umr sweet spot was a gradient glass with grey at the top and yellow at the bottom (polarized)

Awesome, looking for something similar. If you happen to remember brand, make I'd try to look for something similar.

[Jeroen]

Actually, polarised sun glasses are not ideal for driving for at least two reasons. Yes, they do take away some of the glare, but that can be misleading too, you might miss seeing for instance a puddle.

Also, you might want to try a polarised sun glasses first in your particular car. On some modern car windows they will show up all sorts of weird patterns in the front window.

So, it’s a bit of a personal thing wether a polarised sunglasses work for you.

Jeroen.

[ACMerchant]

I use Esilor progressive lenses with transitions so the moment glare or headlights are seen then the lenses darken(in about 30 secs) to cut out the glare without affecting the vision. The moment the light is back to normal the lenses return to normal shade. Have drove a lot in the night and have not had any problems since about 3 yrs.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Actually, polarised sun glasses are not ideal for driving for at least two reasons. Yes, they do take away some of the glare, but that can be misleading too, you might miss seeing for instance a puddle.

Also, you might want to try a polarised sun glasses first in your particular car. On some modern car windows they will show up all sorts of weird patterns in the front window.

So, it’s a bit of a personal thing wether a polarised sunglasses work for you.

Jeroen.

Agreed my polarized glasses caused all sorts of psychedelic holographic colours on all sorts of transparent surfaces while driving and gave me a headache

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

For me, i found that the number 1 cause of glare is the windshield.

No matter how clean or new your windshield is, you will get a glare at certain times of a day. The problem is more pronounced in a light coloured fascia. It also happens in an all-black fascia of the S-Cross.

When it happens you can't see what is ahead of you, and it is a scary experience. It also happens without any warning, with very little time to react.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by narayans80

No matter how clean or new your windshield is, you will get a glare at certain times of a day. The problem is more pronounced in a light coloured fascia. It also happens in an all-black fascia of the S-Cross.

When it happens you can't see what is ahead of you, and it is a scary experience. It also happens without any warning, with very little time to react.

Now that this thread has been merged, the context of my post is gone. This was originally a thread for reducing glare during night driving. My point was that dirty windshields make glare from oncoming headlights worse. During daytime, yes I'll agree.

[MaheshCNair]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

Guys - if you drive, and if you wear specs - Go Zeiss - Go DriveSafe. They are just SUPER DUPER.

These, in my opinion, are the Michellins of eyewear! (Why I will never drive with any tyre other than Michelins)

I got super excited after reading this review and immediately placed an order for Zeiss Drivesafe lenses through Titan Eye+. It was around 5k for two Lenses. I recently purchased a VW Virtus, and planned to wear this during night drives, as the High Beam glare is always a pain point for me. My eyes are having normal sight (6/6), not wearing any glasses till now.

After few days I received the Zeiss glasses, but it completely disappointed me I didn't feel even a bit of reduction in the oncoming Highbeam glare. I checked if I was cheated with a duplicate lens, but no, I could see the Zeiss watermark engraved in the lens, so it was genuine. But it was completely useless for me. My wife also tried it and had the same opinion.

Following this, I wrote a negative review in Google for the Titan Eye+ Cochin store quoting that I got a product which is of no effect. Seeing my bad review, the store manager called me and enquired about it. He assured he will check with Zeiss guys and get back to me.

After a few days he got back to me. Zeiss clarified to them that Drivesafe lenses are effective only for people with lesser eye sight; I mean people who use lenses having power. It will have no effect on people with normal eye sight.
He then assured me that he will do the needful to refund me the full amount.

I received my money back yesterday.

Just wanted to inform guys here, please bear in mind the above points and if possible try to do a trial before you actually purchase the Zeiss Drivesafe lenses.

Thanks,
Mahesh


Mod Note : Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

Thanks!

[deltasierra]

There are new coating Crizal Rock that has been launched. It is claimed to be 70% more scratch resistant than earlier coating. Since, much of glare also comes from minor scratches on the lens, I feel this might reduce the glare to an extent.

I have recently got specs with these lenses made, let's see if it proves to have any noticeable difference in high beam glare.

[thirdmainroad]

It’s been a year since the original post and that means over a year of me using the drive safes - every waking minute.

They are without a doubt the best lens I’ve used, far superior to Crizal or Nikons. They are much more scratch resistant, the photo chromatic performance is as good as it was on day 1, there has been no yellowing of the lens.

The clarity it brings while driving is indeed spectacular, more so at night and in rainy / low visibility situations.

They are also great at reducing glare from screens. I am well versed at staring at computer screens aaaall day - I was once a hardcore gamer and would game 12-16 hours a day and now I trade substantially as well as use the computer for work - and there’s definitely less eye fatigue behind the Zeiss.

It’s not a magic lens and is not going to cut blinding oncoming glare a 100% - but it does make dealing with such glare much better.

Verdict - after a year of heavy, constant use and over 35000 km of driving - highly recommended - provided you have to use prescription lenses. They don’t seem to work in cutting out glare / making things clearer if you do not need to be wearing prescription lenses!

[ACMerchant]

Originally Posted by MaheshCNair

I got super excited after reading this review and immediately placed an order for Zeiss Drivesafe lenses through Titan Eye+.

Please see my earlier post and go for CRIZAL transition lenses if you want to drive at night. Am using it for three years (mine are Progressive), and even in regular daytime use do not have to change my spectacles.