Am I the only one who has found it harder to see driving at night? (road, serving)

[Transmition]

Ever get blinded by someone who has headlight bulbs that aren't road-legal? Don't be that guy. Bulbs are sold in stores without a label telling you that they are too bright for road usage.



It's often hard to see at night in the wet due to unexpected reflections from other sources and there's not much you can do about it. If your headlights are all scratched up then that can make them dimmer, and you can clear them up with a solution.

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by Kyoung92

dark mixed with rain

Suggestion that may help: RainX water repellent. And be sure to get the original RainX water repellent, not the 2-in-1 repellent w/ glass cleaner, just the original RainX water repellent.


I found RainX on the windshield makes a big improvement for any wet weather driving. Water doesn't film or smear on your windshield when using RainX. And your wipers will actually get the windshield clear of water and water film with each swipe, and make less noise/chatter, too. It's cheap, has to be put on approximately every three weeks during the winter months with regular driving habits.


Clean your windshield first. Then put on two coats of RainX. Then buff the window clean while it's dry. It'll work well for you. Couple of instructional videos that get it right:

[tickyul]

I do not like driving in the dark, you are not alone.

[dav51lin]

all the rain only makes it worse

[notnamed]

Definitely get your vision checked. I got a very mild prescription that I pretty much only wear for night driving and that makes a world of difference.

[travis t]

Dittos on the rain-x. I use it all winter long. I put it on while I'm filling my gas tank. Clean the windshield first with the gas-station provided squeegee, dry using the paper towels, and then apply the rain-x. It only takes a couple minutes.

It's especially helpful if your wiper blades are older than they should be.

[oldgardener]

Originally Posted by Kyoung92

I feel like now that fall is here with the dark mixed with rain, it is near impossible to see while driving at night. Is there a way to make it brighter? If it helps I drive an 05 subaru legacy.

I had that problem too, until I realized that my windshield wipers needed to be replaced--they were smearing the rain across the windshield instead of wiping it off. New windshield wipers fixed the problem.

[509]

Originally Posted by thatguy950

Well it’s extremely dark with all the cloud cover, and rain+very few streetlights certainly don’t help. Try some good drop in lamps, your car should have factory projectors, Philips Crystalviision are pretty good

The problem is TO MUCH LIGHT rather than too little.

I drive rural and mountain roads all the time that have no traffic and no streetlights. See perfectly fine. The only issue is not out driving the headlights which can happen at high speed.

The problem in urban areas is to much light that is unshielded....otherwise known as glare.

The reason glare is an issue for older drivers is cataracts which scatter the light through the lens before it hits the rear of the eyeball there by making it difficult to see details. However, it also affects everybody no matter your age.

Glare from unshielded lights is the problem in urban areas. This includes streetlights, porch lights, advertising signs, etc, etc.

All those unshielded lights reduce your dark adaption as well as scattering light. Reducing dark adaption is why it seems so dark at night in urban areas. It isn't dark. Your pupil is seeing the unshielded lights and thinks it is daytime so it contracts.

Outside of Wenatchee the DOT put in a bunch of lights in the middle of Highway 2. Once people entered the over lighted area they lost their dark adaption and basically were "blind" for the next several miles. After complaints DOT finally turned down the brightness of the streetlights.

For the sake of safety I have no idea why very bright, unshielded lights that are visible from roadways at allowed!! That includes streetlights. For safety lights visible from the roadway need to be shielded, directed, and fairly dim.

We kill thousands of people every year because road engineers do not understand how the human eye works. It would be great to ban bright, unshielded lights along roadways. Good luck getting a lawyer in the Legislature to understand basic science. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the problem let alone understand that the solution is LESS LIGHT.

There are only a few things you can do....

1) Turn down the dashboard lights to preserve your dark adaption. On one of my vehicles I actually tape a couple of lights with red filters so they don't ruin my dark adaption on mountain roads. The dashboards are that bad....they are designed with urban areas in mind and most people are unaware that they can adjust the intensity.

2) Clean your windshield and always have new windshield wipers that do not streak. I always find it funny that in Oregon they won't let you pump your own gas for safety reasons. If Oregon is concerned about driving safety they should REQUIRE that every windshield be cleaned EVERY TIME a vehicle is filled with gas. Same number of jobs, but a lot less people killed on the roadway.

3) Adjust your headlights. Particularly if your driving a truck that tows or has different weights in the bed. Check to see that your headlights are actually lighting up the road ahead rather than the other lane!! Good luck finding the correct alignment requirements for your headlights. I called the Washington Highway Patrol and they did not have a clue!!! They did know they could write me a ticket, but couldn't tell me what the standards were!!

4) Clean your headlights. Notice this is last on the list.

Good luck. Poor seeing at night while driving has little to do with you being 26. It has everything to do with poor management of lights at night by local communities and the DOT.

[thatguy950]

^interesting, you make a good point

One thing I’ve done is polished the windshield on my Mercedes as it had plenty of fine scratches that almost looked like hazing and seriously impared vision at night, especially on rainy nights with headlights coming right at me. Made a world of difference

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by 509

The problem is TO MUCH LIGHT rather than too little.

I drive rural and mountain roads all the time that have no traffic and no streetlights. See perfectly fine. The only issue is not out driving the headlights which can happen at high speed.

The problem in urban areas is to much light that is unshielded....otherwise known as glare.

The reason glare is an issue for older drivers is cataracts which scatter the light through the lens before it hits the rear of the eyeball there by making it difficult to see details. However, it also affects everybody no matter your age.

Glare from unshielded lights is the problem in urban areas. This includes streetlights, porch lights, advertising signs, etc, etc.

All those unshielded lights reduce your dark adaption as well as scattering light. Reducing dark adaption is why it seems so dark at night in urban areas. It isn't dark. Your pupil is seeing the unshielded lights and thinks it is daytime so it contracts.

Outside of Wenatchee the DOT put in a bunch of lights in the middle of Highway 2. Once people entered the over lighted area they lost their dark adaption and basically were "blind" for the next several miles. After complaints DOT finally turned down the brightness of the streetlights.

For the sake of safety I have no idea why very bright, unshielded lights that are visible from roadways at allowed!! That includes streetlights. For safety lights visible from the roadway need to be shielded, directed, and fairly dim.

We kill thousands of people every year because road engineers do not understand how the human eye works. It would be great to ban bright, unshielded lights along roadways. Good luck getting a lawyer in the Legislature to understand basic science. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the problem let alone understand that the solution is LESS LIGHT.

There are only a few things you can do....

1) Turn down the dashboard lights to preserve your dark adaption. On one of my vehicles I actually tape a couple of lights with red filters so they don't ruin my dark adaption on mountain roads. The dashboards are that bad....they are designed with urban areas in mind and most people are unaware that they can adjust the intensity.

2) Clean your windshield and always have new windshield wipers that do not streak. I always find it funny that in Oregon they won't let you pump your own gas for safety reasons. If Oregon is concerned about driving safety they should REQUIRE that every windshield be cleaned EVERY TIME a vehicle is filled with gas. Same number of jobs, but a lot less people killed on the roadway.

3) Adjust your headlights. Particularly if your driving a truck that tows or has different weights in the bed. Check to see that your headlights are actually lighting up the road ahead rather than the other lane!! Good luck finding the correct alignment requirements for your headlights. I called the Washington Highway Patrol and they did not have a clue!!! They did know they could write me a ticket, but couldn't tell me what the standards were!!

4) Clean your headlights. Notice this is last on the list.

Good luck. Poor seeing at night while driving has little to do with you being 26. It has everything to do with poor management of lights at night by local communities and the DOT.

Good post, 509.