It’s no surprise, then, that yellow-tinted “night driving glasses” are so widely advertised, promising less glare and sharper vision after dark. But do night driving glasses work? Here’s what the evidence says, and what can make driving at night easier.

What Are Night Driving Glasses?

Night driving glasses usually have yellow- or amber-tinted lenses. They’re sold on the idea that the tint filters out some blue light, reduces the dazzle from headlights, and makes the road ahead look brighter and sharper.

They’re often sold online and in shops without a prescription, and some come as clip-on lenses that fit over your normal glasses.

Do Yellow Night Driving Glasses Work?

The short answer is no. Any tint, however light, reduces the amount of light reaching your eyes. In daylight, that can make things feel more comfortable. At night, when there’s already very little light, it makes dark parts of the road look even darker.

The yellow tint can make the view look brighter, but that’s an effect of the colour, not more light reaching your eyes. It doesn’t help you see more.

The research backs this up. In 2019 a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology, researchers at Harvard Medical School’s Schepens Eye Research Institute tested three makes of yellow-lens night driving glasses in a driving simulator. Drivers spotted pedestrians no sooner with yellow lenses than with clear ones, and the yellow lenses did nothing to reduce the effect of glare from oncoming headlights. The researchers also warned that the glasses could make drivers feel more confident in their night driving than they should.

The College of Optometrists, the professional body for optometrists in the UK, advises drivers to avoid yellow-tinted lenses for night driving, because they’re not proven to help and can make it harder to see dark areas of the road.

What Does the Highway Code Say?

Rule 94 of the Highway Code is clear: “At night or in poor visibility, do not use tinted glasses, lenses, or visors if they restrict your vision.”

Optometrists use a technical measure for this. The College of Optometrists recommends that lenses letting through less than 75% of light aren’t suitable for driving at twilight or at night. Sunglasses, including polarised lenses, fall well below that, so they should only ever be worn for driving in daylight.

Why Does Glare Feel Worse at Night?

When it’s dark, your pupils widen to let in as much light as possible. That helps you see in low light, but it also means bright lights, like headlights, scatter more inside the eye and dazzle you for longer.

Glare can also be a sign of an eye condition, especially if it’s new or getting worse:

• Cataracts: Clouding of the lens inside the eye scatters light, causing glare and haloes around headlights and streetlights.
• Astigmatism: An uncorrected or out-of-date prescription can make lights look streaky or smeared.
• Dry Eye: An uneven tear film on the surface of the eye can blur vision and make glare worse, particularly with the car heater blowing.

Age plays a part too. As we get older, our eyes let in less light and take longer to recover from glare. In the 2019 study, glare slowed older drivers’ reactions to pedestrians by 1.5 seconds, compared with 0.3 seconds for younger drivers.

What Actually Helps When Driving at Night?

Keep Your Prescription Up to Date

Even a small change in your prescription can make a noticeable difference after dark. If you need glasses to drive, you must wear them every time you drive. Yet the same College of Optometrists survey found that 24% of drivers who’d been told to wear glasses for driving admit that they don’t always do so. If it’s been more than two years since your last eye test, or you’ve noticed night driving getting harder, book an eye test.

Ask About an Anti-Reflection Coating

Rather than a tint, an anti-reflection coating on clear prescription lenses reduces the reflections bouncing around your lenses from headlights and streetlights, without darkening your view of the road.

Don’t Look Straight at Oncoming Headlights

If you’re dazzled, look towards the left edge of your lane rather than into the lights, and slow down if you need to until your vision recovers.

Keep a Spare Pair in the Car

If you only need glasses for driving, keeping a spare pair in the glove box means you’re never caught without them.

Night Driving Glasses FAQs

Are Night Driving Glasses Legal?

They’re legal to sell, but the Highway Code says not to use tinted glasses at night or in poor visibility if they restrict your vision. Because any tint reduces the light reaching your eyes, they’re best avoided after dark.

Can I Wear Polarised Sunglasses to Drive at Night?

No. Polarised sunglasses are excellent for cutting glare in bright daylight, but they let through far too little light for driving at dusk or in the dark.

Do I Need to Tell the DVLA if I Struggle to See at Night?

Not just because night driving feels harder. But you must meet the eyesight standard for driving, and you must tell the DVLA about certain eye conditions. Our guide to whether you need to tell the DVLA you wear glasses explains the rules.

When Should I See an Optometrist About Night Driving?

If glare is new, getting worse, or you’re seeing haloes or starbursts around lights, book an eye test. Your optometrist can check for cataracts, astigmatism, and dry eye, and make sure your prescription is right for driving.

See Clearly After Dark

Yellow night driving glasses might look like a quick fix, but the evidence shows they don’t help you see better at night, and they can make the darkest parts of the road harder to see. Clear, up-to-date prescription lenses with an anti-reflection coating, clean glasses, and a regular eye test do far more to keep you safe on the road this winter.

If night driving is getting harder, book an eye test at your nearest D.I. Blow Opticians branch.

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Smoking damages your eyes by introducing toxic chemicals and reducing blood flow, which increases your risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic eye disease.

It also worsens dry eye symptoms and can impair vision quality by contributing to blood vessel damage and oxidative stress in the eye tissues.

How Does Smoking Affect Your Eyes?

Smoking can affect the crucial parts of your eyes, including:

• Retina: The delicate, light-sensitive tissue that lines the inside of the eye.
• Lens: The clear part of the eye that allows light to pass to the retina and allows the eye to focus on objects at varying distances.
• Macula: The most sensitive part of the retina, and is the part of the eye that supplies sharp vision.

Smoking causes changes in the eyes that can lead to vision loss. If you smoke:

• You are twice as likely to develop AMD compared to people who don’t smoke.
• You are two or three times more likely to develop cataracts compared with people who don’t smoke.

What Are the Symptoms of Eye Diseases Related to Smoking?

Smoking cigarettes can cause two serious eye diseases: cataracts and AMD. Symptoms of these eye diseases related to smoking include:

Cataracts:

• Cloudy or blurry vision
• Colours that seem faded
• Sensitivity to light
• Trouble seeing at night
• Double vision

For more information on cataracts, see our full cataracts guide here.

AMD:

• Loss of the central vision you need to see details straight ahead
• Blurry or wavy areas in your vision
• Having a hard time recognising faces
• Needing more light to read or do other tasks in front of you

For more information on AMD, see our full AMD guide here.

It’s important to note that in the early stages of both of these diseases, you may experience no symptoms at all. It’s important to get eye exams on a regular basis to increase the chances of catching and treating these conditions as early as possible. For a comprehensive eye exam, book in with D.I. Blow Optician here.

What About Vaping?

“Vaping has risks that are different from smoking,” said J Kevin McKinney, MD. “Vaping solutions often have much higher nicotine levels than cigarettes. While they do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, they do have other chemicals with known and unknown negative effects. We are still learning the type and magnitude of the risks of e-cigarettes”.

Additional Eye Problems Associated with Smoking

Dry Eye

This is when your eyes do not have enough, or the right kind, of tears. Smoking with dry eye will make your eyes more likely to feel scratchy, sting, burn, or be red.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Smokers who also have diabetes risk getting diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when blood vessels in the eye are damaged. It causes blurry or distorted vision and possibly blindness. Treatment includes medication, laser, or surgery.

For more information, read our complete guide on diabetic retinopathy here.

Optic Nerve Problems

People who smoke risk having optic nerve problems. The optic nerve connects the eye to the brain. Damage to this nerve can lead to blindness. Smoking can increase risk factors, which can lead to glaucoma, a disease that affects the optic nerve.

Uveitis

Smoking can lead to a disease that affects part of the eye called the uvea. This is the middle layer of the eye wall. Uveitis is when this layer becomes irritated. This disease causes a red eye, pain, and vision problems.

Thyroid Eye Disease (TED), also known as Graves’ Eye Disease

This is a disease of the body’s thyroid gland. One of the symptoms of thyroid eye disease, or TED, is bulging eyes. Smokers with TED risk worsening their eye condition with smoking. They can also lose vision.

Smoking and Pregnancy

If you smoke whilst pregnant, your baby is 5x more likely to get bacterial meningitis as a child. This is when tissues around the brain swell. Meningitis can cause eye infections, amongst other vision problems.

Smoking during pregnancy can also increase your risk of giving birth too early. Premature birth can lead to a serious eye problem called retinopathy or prematurity. The baby may have permanent vision loss or blindness.

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Protecting your eyesight means protecting your future. Smoking greatly increases the risk of conditions like AMD, cataracts, and optic nerve damage, often with no early warning signs. Alongside quitting smoking, a good diet plays a real protective role too — our guide to the link between diet and eye health covers the foods that help most. The best step you can take to safeguard your vision is to quit smoking and attend regular eye exams. At D.I. Blow Opticians, we’re here to help you maintain healthy eyes for life. Book your comprehensive eye test with us today.

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What Is A Cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. According to the NHS, most cataracts are related to ageing, and they’re very common in older people.

A cataract can occur in either or both eyes. It cannot spread from one eye to the other.

There are many different types of cataracts. Not all cataracts cause symptoms. If a cataract causes no symptoms, it can usually be left alone. If symptoms, such as blurred vision, occur then cataracts can be treated very successfully with surgery.

The Lens

The lens is a clear part of the eye that helps to focus light, or an image, on the retina. The retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.

In a normal eye, light passes through the transparent lens to the retina. Once it reaches the retina, light is changed into nerve signals that are sent to the brain. The lens must be clear for the retina to receive a sharp image. If the lens is cloudy from a cataract, the image you see will be blurred.

What Causes Cataracts?

The lens lies behind the iris and pupil. It works much like a camera lens. It focuses light onto the retina at the back of the eye where an image is recorded. The lens also adjusts the eye’s focus, letting us see things clearly both up close and far away. The lens is made of mostly water and protein. The protein is arranged in a precise way that keeps the lens clear and lets light pass through it.

But as we age, some of the protein may clump together and start to cloud a small area of the lens. This is a cataract. Over time, the cataract may grow larger and cloud more of the lens, making it harder to see.

As you become older, you might also find that the lens begins to acquire a brownish shade. If you have advanced lens discolouration, you may not be able to identify blues and purples.

Cataracts are associated with the sun and so are far more common in areas of the world such as India and Africa. Other causes include injury, diabetes, smoking, certain drugs, and some ocular diseases.

Whilst cataracts are commonest in older people, they can occur at any age. Some children are born with cataracts, this is known as congenital cataracts.

Cataract Symptoms

The most common cataract symptoms are:
• Cloudy or blurry vision
• Colours seeming to fade
• Glare, headlights, lamps, or sunlight might appear too bright. A halo may appear around lights
• Poor night vision
• Double vision or multiple images in one eye.
• Frequent prescription changes

Because cataracts normally develop very slowly over many years, most people don’t notice the gradual deterioration in their vision until it starts to interfere with their daily activity, or it is spotted by their optometrist.

Different Types of Cataracts

• Secondary Cataract: Cataracts can form after surgery for other eye problems, such as glaucoma. Cataracts also can develop in people who have other health problems, such as diabetes. Cataracts are sometimes linked to steroid use.
• Traumatic Cataract: Cataracts can develop after an eye injury, sometimes years later.
• Congenital Cataract: Some babies are born with cataracts or develop them in childhood, often in both eyes. These cataracts may be so small that they do not affect vision. If they do, the lenses may need to be removed.
• Radiation Cataract: Cataracts can develop after exposure to some types of radiation.

How Is A Cataract Detected?

Cataracts are detected through a comprehensive eye exam that includes:
• Visual Acuity Test: This eye chart test measures how well you can see at various distances.
• Dilated Eye Exam: Drops are placed in your eyes to widen, or dilate, the pupils. Your optometrist uses a special magnifying lens to examine your retina and optic nerve for signs of damage and other eye problems.
• Tonometry: An instrument measures the pressure inside the eye.

How Are Cataracts Treated?

The most effective treatment for cataracts is an operation to remove the cataract and replace the cloudy lens with a clear artificial implant.

The lens of each eye should be clear in order for your eyes to work properly. When glasses no longer improve your vision, the only way to restore your vision is by having the cataract removed by surgery.

The Cataract Operation

Cataract surgery is one of the most common and quickest surgeries performed today. Modern cataract surgery, called phacoemulsification, is usually performed under local anaesthetic as a day case procedure. During the surgery, a tiny incision is made into the eye and the lens removed with an ultra-sound probe. The capsule of the lens is left behind and this is used to house the new lens implant. The whole procedure takes between 15 and 20 minutes and the visual recovery is very quick with most patients noticing improved vision within a matter of days.

Lens Implant Types

Each patient and each eye are different. Measurements are taken prior to surgery, called biometry, to establish the correct lens power for the individual eye. Lens implants also come in different types. The two major categories of lens implants are:

Monofocal Lenses

The vast majority of patients have this lens type put in. These provide good distance vision, but glasses are required for close work.

Multifocal Lenses

These lenses offer a high probability of achieving glasses independence, providing patients the ability to see far as well as to read without glasses.

However, patients can experience a reduction in contrast sensitivity, especially in dim lighting, as well as halos and glare around lights at night.

The pre-operative preparations for patients interested in multifocal lens implants are more involved than when monofocal lenses are being used, a wider range of issues need to be discussed, and the post-operative management is more intensive. These are the major reasons that these lenses are not offered on the NHS.

Current Cataract Research

The National Eye Institute is conducting and supporting a number of studies focusing on factors associated with the development of age-related cataracts.

These studies include:

• The effect of sunlight exposure, which may be associated with an increased risk of cataracts.
• Vitamin supplements, which have shown varying results in delaying the progressions of cataracts.
• Genetic studies, which show promise for better understanding cataract development.

For further support and information about living with cataracts, the RNIB is a good additional resource.

Cataracts aren’t the only age-related eye condition worth knowing about — our guide to Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) covers another common one, including symptoms and treatment options.

For more on age-related eye conditions and how to manage them, see our full eye health guide. If you have any concerns about your vision, book an eye exam with your local D.I. Blow Opticians.

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