Improve night vision for older motorists

For safe night driving, older motorists should be clear about their vision conditions and follow expert advice. Some older drivers never visit ECPs for a long period. Vision declines are major causes of accidents among old people. Older drivers should visit eye doctors at least every two years, in order to get visual field tests, contrast sensitivity testing and so on.

Older drivers with sight-threatening eye diseases such as diabetes, macular degeneration and cataracts should visit their eye doctors more frequently. Some vision symptoms only occur in late stages of these diseases so that early detection and control are quite important. They can get some suggestions from their eye doctors on personal diet, blood sugar control and other healthy factors. Aspheric intraocular lenses implantation during a cataract surgery can enhance contrast sensitivity and provide sharper vision than spherical intraocular lenses.

Special eyeglasses with certain coatings may also help improve your vision during night driving. Anti-reflective coatings block glare and wavefront lenses can reduce halo, star bursts and other distracting aberrations.

Expert suggestions on night driving are also helpful for older motorists. Statistics show that 40% of fatal collisions among older drivers happen around intersections, so that intersection turning requires extra caution. Older drivers should also plan trips in advance, avoiding dark, unlighted roadways and choosing familiar roads. Night driving needs high level of concentration, so that older drivers should not drive in bad weather conditions or when being tired or stressed.

Driving defensively is particularly necessary for older drivers since they can not react to sudden conditions as quickly as young people. The distance away from the front car should be at least two car lengths. Older drivers should keep car window clear and keep their cars in good repair. Windshield wipers should be fresh and headlights should be clean and well aligned.