
Some people use driving glasses to see the road ahead, car dashboard and mirrors more clearly. Photo by Joshua Wordel on Unsplash.
Not to alarm you, but driving is one of the most dangerous things we do in our day-to-day lives. Making sure we can see properly is a must! So, do you need driving glasses? We’ll look at safe driving with different types of glasses, including glasses designed specifically for driving.
Do you need glasses for driving?
Let’s start with the basic legal and safety requirements. In the UK, you must meet the
standards of vision for driving set out by the government. These state that you must be able to read a number plate from 20 metres away. If you need glasses or contact lenses to do this, you must wear them when driving. It’s also important that your glasses don’t interfere with your ability to see clearly.
What kind of glasses are good for driving?
Driving with single vision prescription glasses
Do you wear glasses to see things that are far away? It’s safe to wear your normal prescription glasses for driving if you can read a number plate from 20 metres away and still see your dashboard display.
This might change in middle-age as you begin to develop
presbyopia, or long-sightedness. You might find that you can’t see close-up things like your speedometer easily with a single prescription.
Driving with bifocals and varifocals
If you struggle to see things that are close-up, like your dashboard,
and far away, like a distant road sign, you might be prescribed
bifocals or varifocals. These lenses have zones for seeing clearly at different distances. You can wear bifocals and varifocals all day, so they’re a good option if you only want one pair of glasses.
Even if you’re
only long-sighted, bifocals and varifocals can still be useful because reading glasses can distort your distance vision.
Specialist varifocal driving glasses
A problem with varifocal glasses is that creating that lovely, smooth transition between the different zones creates distortion at the sides of the lens. This can be a problem for driving, where it’s important to have a wide field of vision. You want to see those hazards in your peripheral vision, like someone opening a car door. The distorted “soft-focus” zones also
take time to get used to, and can cause dizziness, or make your vision “swim” at first.
Driving varifocals solve this problem by reducing the distortion, creating a wider field of vision. They also optimise the lens for distance and intermediate vision, as this is what you need most when you are driving.
See our prices for varifocal driving glasses here.
Driving with sunglasses
Driving off into the sunset isn’t as romantic as it sounds. Nobody wants to drive with the sun shining in their eyes! But did you know it’s only safe to drive with certain types of sunglasses? Sunglasses with extremely dark tints block out too much light to see clearly enough for safe driving, even on a sunny day.
The good news is, there are sunglasses with tints in every shade of the rainbow these days, so you can still choose a cool tint for cruising along a sunlit highway. The best sunglass category for driving is Category 2, which transmits 18-43% of light. This
AA guide explains the different classifications.
Sunglasses are not recommended for night driving.
Are photochromic lenses (e.g. Transitions®) good for driving?
We’ve all been there. You’re driving along, singing “We’re all going on a summer holiday”, when suddenly the sky goes dark and a rainstorm appears out of nowhere. Your prescription sunglasses are too dark but it’s not safe to take them off while driving.
Photochromic lenses (like the popular
Transitions® brand) adjust to the light conditions. If it gets dark, the lenses become transparent. When the sun comes out again, the lenses darken.
However, some types don’t work well in cars because windscreens block some UV light. They also take time to change, which can leave them too dark or too light for a few seconds – not ideal when driving.
Luckily, some newer photochromic lenses address these problems. For example, Transitions Xtra Active lenses are designed to work behind a car windscreen and to respond quickly to light changes, including very bright light. They’re also available as a polarised lens in grey.
Are polarised lenses good for driving?
Polarised lenses solve a specific problem: glare. Polarised lenses aim to reduce dazzling reflections by filtering horizontally polarised light. They work well for daytime driving but can affect LCD screen viewing. Since polarised lenses filter out some light, anti-glare or anti-reflective (AR) coatings are a safer option for night driving.
Are graduated tint lenses good for driving?
Graduated lenses are darkest at the top and lightest at the bottom. This can work well to block out sunlight at certain times of day while allowing you to see the road and your dashboard. It’s still important to make sure the tint at the top isn’t too dark to obscure your vision in dim conditions.
Can you drive with reading glasses?
Standard reading glasses help you to see things close up, like your book or your insect collection. However, they distort your distance vision, even if you can normally see distance well. This means they aren’t safe for driving, when you need to see developments ahead of you on the road. Try bifocals, varifocals or varifocal driving glasses instead.
Can I wear driving glasses all the time?
Most types of glasses you use to drive can be worn all the time, especially single vision, bifocal and varifocal glasses. Some people also feel comfortable wearing specialist varifocal driving lenses all day. However, they may not be as comfortable for long periods of close-up work.
Do driving glasses really work?
Are you thinking of buying a pair of glasses specifically for driving? Or replacing your lenses to better meet your driving needs? Driving glasses work well if they meet these conditions:
- They match your prescription
- They allow you to see clearly at a range of distances
- They let you read a number plate 20 metres away
- They don’t obscure your vision
Tip: get the right measurements. As well as an up-to-date prescription, you’ll need to give your
pupil height and
pupillary distance for varifocal driving lenses. This is to make sure your pupil is in the best place for the different distance zones.
Need a reglaze for the road?
To drive safely, you need to update your prescription regularly – but this can be pricey. We replace the lenses in your existing glasses frames, saving you money and allowing you to choose the best lenses for your needs.
Send us your glasses to reglaze now.