Shorter daylight hours, icy roads and limited visibility can make winter driving feel both challenging and unsafe.
While many drivers take precautions by equipping their vehicles with de-icer and an ice scraper, one important aspect that is often overlooked is the impact of winter weather on eyesight.
At Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care, we have over 85 years of experience helping people care for their eye health, and we offer a range of drive safety lenses.
Maintaining good eyesight for winter driving is critical for your personal safety and the safety of others. Here we provide tips on how to protect and enhance your vision for safer winter driving.
Winter Driving Challenges
Winter weather can significantly affect your eyesight in various ways:
- Reduced Daylight: With shorter days and longer nights, winter driving often occurs in the dark, making it harder to see obstacles and hazards.
- Glare and Reflections: The glare from headlights, or sun reflecting off wet roads and snow, can almost be blinding, increasing the risk of accidents.
- Dry Eyes: The cold, dry air can lead to dry and irritated eyes, making it challenging to focus on the road.
- Frost and Fog: Frost on your windshield and foggy windows can obstruct your view, also increasing the risk of accidents.
- Reduced Peripheral Vision: Wearing bulky winter clothing, such as hats and scarves, can limit your peripheral vision, making it harder to spot dangers.
Winter Ready Eyesight
- Regular Eye Tests: Schedule regular eye tests to ensure your eyesight is ‘winter’ ready and in good condition.
- Proper Eyewear: If you require corrective lenses, make sure your glasses or contact lenses are up to date and provide clear vision. At Scrivens, we recommend anti-reflective coatings to reduce glare and have a range of driving lenses for you to choose from.
- Sunglasses: Wear polarized sunglasses during daylight hours to reduce glare from sun, snow and ice. This will help you see more clearly and reduce eye strain.
- Stay Hydrated: Drink plenty of water to prevent dry eyes. Using artificial tears can also help keep your eyes moist and comfortable.
- Defog Your Windows: Keep your car’s interior warm to prevent fog and frost on your windows. Use the defrost setting and ensure your windshield wipers are in good condition.
- Maintain Clean Windscreens: Keep your windscreen clean inside and out. Dirty glass can worsen glare and reduce visibility, especially during low-light conditions.
- Check Your Headlights: Ensure that your headlights are properly aligned and clean.
- Reduce Speed: In adverse weather conditions, reduce your speed and increase following distances to give yourself more time to react to unexpected situations.
- Limit Distractions: Minimise distractions inside the car. Turn off your phone, avoid eating, and focus on the road.
Prioritising your eyesight can greatly improve your safety on the road during the winter months. If you have any concerns about your eye health, you will find help and advice on our website or alternatively visit your local Scrivens branch.
Stay safe out there!
If you found these top tips useful, you may also be interested in how to maintain healthy vision
