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Night Blindness & Driving

Night blindness refers to difficulty seeing in darkness, which makes night driving dangerous, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. The eye then reacts slowly to sudden changes of light. Night blindness increases as individuals age.

  1. Peripheral Vision

    • In lower light conditions, human eyes lose much of their peripheral vision and become less able to distinguish an object from its background, according to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). Headlights illuminate only several hundred feet of the road.

    Age

    • Visual acuity diminishes, and the eye needs more light to see as it ages, according to the TDI. Older people who drive at night should drive more slowly and take more precautions.

    Additional Recommendations

    • Measures that can limit the effects of night blindness include the use of high beams at appropriate times to extend range of vision without endangering oncoming cars, keeping the windshield clean, adjusting the rearview mirror to its night setting to reduce glare from behind, and looking to the right to avoid being blinded by oncoming cars.

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