Contact lenses... is it dangerous to drive at night with them?

[gopunk]

last night my friend *refused* to drive because he claimed there was too much glare from his contact lenses. he said something about contrast and reflection at night. i think he's BSing because he had to drive to us and get back home, so it couldn't have been that bad. but i have no idea because i don't wear contacts...

 

[MrBond]

Not really. I get more glare and 'starbursts' from them when they haven't been cleaned in a couple of days, but usually blinking a couple times makes it better. It's never been so bad that I felt unsafe to drive at night, and that includes the time I had something under one and couldn't pop it out to clean it until I was home. That was about a 45min drive and my right eye was watering the entire time. For the most part, they're fine for driving at night.

I bet your friend just didn't want you vomiting in his car

 

[etech]

If he is new to wearing contact lenses then he could be having problems adjusting to them.

After wearing both contacts and glasses I'd perfer to wear contacts when driving at night.

 

[Peetoeng]

Originally posted by: MrBond
Not really. I get more glare and 'starbursts' from them when they haven't been cleaned in a couple of days, but usually blinking a couple times makes it better. It's never been so bad that I felt unsafe to drive at night, and that includes the time I had something under one and couldn't pop it out to clean it until I was home. That was about a 45min drive and my right eye was watering the entire time. For the most part, they're fine for driving at night.

I bet your friend just didn't want you vomiting in his car

I have been to 2 optometrists and none of them can find me contact lens that would correct astigmatism on my right eye. So, I end up using regular (w/ no astigmatism correction) contact lens for both eye when I have to wear contact lens (I usually wear glasses). I hate driving at nights with regular contact lens on, the lights (street lights, brake lights, headlights, what have you), neon signs, they make me dizzy.

 

[LH]

have been to 2 optometrists and none of them can find me contact lens that would correct astigmatism on my right eye. So, I end up using regular (w/ no astigmatism correction) contact lens for both eye when I have to wear contact lens (I usually wear glasses). I hate driving at nights with regular contact lens on, the lights (street lights, brake lights, headlights, what have you), neon signs, they make me dizzy.

Thats odd, they should be able too. Minor astimatisms are corrected by toric lenses, and almost all other ones can be corrected with gas permeable lenses(which are better for your eyes anyways).

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: etech
If he is new to wearing contact lenses then he could be having problems adjusting to them.

After wearing both contacts and glasses I'd perfer to wear contacts when driving at night.

<-- What he said.

When I first started wearing contacts, I got a lot of glare from streetlights at night. Nothing too bad, but definitely irritating, and at 55 MPH, do you really want to take the risk of misinterpreting something you see? After a few weeks, the problem went away.

 

[MrBond]

I have been to 2 optometrists and none of them can find me contact lens that would correct astigmatism on my right eye. So, I end up using regular (w/ no astigmatism correction) contact lens for both eye when I have to wear contact lens (I usually wear glasses). I hate driving at nights with regular contact lens on, the lights (street lights, brake lights, headlights, what have you), neon signs, they make me dizzy.

That's odd. I've got toric lenses which work very well. When I first got contacts, he had me using standard Focus toric lenses, which gave me a lot of trouble with driving at night because they wouldn't stay rotated correctly. He switched me to another kind that are larger in diamater, which I *really* like. They're made by CibaVision I believe. Downside is they're about $250 for four pairs, which last an entire year. And 1-800-Contacts and such don't stock them. They've made driving at night MUCH easier for me

 

[dmcowen674]

He was BSing you. Been wearing contacts for over 25 years, no problem at night.

 

[vi edit]

I *can* drive with my contacts in at night, but only as a last resort. I do get terrible glare, night blindness, and really bad bluriness when using my contacts at night.

No such problems with my glasses.

 

[Peetoeng]

Originally posted by: MrBond
That's odd. I've got toric lenses which work very well. When I first got contacts, he had me using standard Focus toric lenses, which gave me a lot of trouble with driving at night because they wouldn't stay rotated correctly. He switched me to another kind that are larger in diamater, which I *really* like. They're made by CibaVision I believe. Downside is they're about $250 for four pairs, which last an entire year. And 1-800-Contacts and such don't stock them. They've made driving at night MUCH easier for me

I have tried 3 brands so far. But I don't remember the brands. It corrects astigmatism on my left eye, but not on my right eye. Perhaps, it's something odd with my right eye--perhaps, odd shape that prevents the lens to sit with the right orientation).

 

[Kaervak]

I'm wearing gas permeable lenses here and have never had a problem with night driving. Even when I wore soft lenses I never experienced glare or halos.

 

[ElFenix]

don't have a prob with night driving at all with my accuvue IIs.

 

[Paulson]

Well I drove with my contacts in at 2 in the morning last night and I had no problem haha

I do a lot of driving at night and have no such problem... but sometimes my eyes get irritated during allergy season and then they can get blurry and uncomfortable.

 

[Triumph]

Anyone else have problems when they first switched to contacts? I got them for the first time last July, and my prescription has changed from 5.0 to 5.5 in the 6 months since then. That was a big enough change that I could not read road signs beyond ~4 car lengths.

 

[wfbberzerker]

at night, when i've had my contacts in all day, my vision gets a little blurry as i'm not blinking as often and my contacts are drier.

 

[simms]

no... just when if you wear your contacts for a long time.. your eyes may hurt and you'll have to blink. >_<.

Simon

 

[amnesiac]

Been driving with contacts for almost 7 years now. Only time I have a problem is in exceedingly dry weather or when I'm really tired.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Triumph
Anyone else have problems when they first switched to contacts? I got them for the first time last July, and my prescription has changed from 5.0 to 5.5 in the 6 months since then. That was a big enough change that I could not read road signs beyond ~4 car lengths.

Other than the pain in the ass of learning how to put them in and such... no. My eyes went from a 2.75 when I got them up to a 4.75 now, but that's prolly cause I started wearing them when I was 12...

 

[trmiv]

I used to have trouble with contacts at night. Always had halos around the lights, which bothered me a lot. Of course, I had problems with contacts in general, I was never comfortable wearing them, they always irritated my eyes. I finally just gave up on them a few years ago, and went back to glasses.

 

[Storm]

Extremely dry weather is the only condition that has given me slight problems that drys out the contacts.
Possible over-wearing ie wearing them for over the prescribed time I believe eight hours without rewetting them can cause dryness.

Frankly I think that the eight hour max is bs cause I've had no problems as long as I keep rewetting them. Also my eye detioration has slowed down tremedously ever since I switched over to contacts. I dont know the exact cause but its a nice benefit. Oh yea I have astigmatism in both my eyes so I use the Focus Toric disposable every month.

 

[ScottyB]

I don't know about contacts but I have a hard time seing at night with my glasses. All the lights look like massive starbursts and if there is someone behind me with thier lights on I can't see the road at all.

 

[flavio]

Originally posted by: ScottyB
I don't know about contacts but I have a hard time seing at night with my glasses. All the lights look like massive starbursts and if there is someone behind me with thier lights on I can't see the road at all.

Maybe you should clean them?