Modern Vespa

Yesterday I took a longer day trip than I have in a few years, with a couple hours' ride coming and going. I started home just when it began to get dark, and about 2/3 of the route was on a 2-lane highway out in the middle of nowhere. No worries about that itself. I've done that before many times, just not in the past several years for more than a few miles or so.

I think I subtly noticed it getting worse over the past few years, but last night my vision seemed to be right on the border of what I consider too sketchy for riding safely. I do have glasses that I wear almost constantly (even under my helmet & goggles), despite still having a low enough prescription that most people wonder why I even wear them. I can focus perfectly without them, but it's difficult, very tiring, and I can't do it very long anymore. I'm farsighted with astigmatism.

When I got home, I did a little bit of research. I've hit my mid-30s without ever hearing anybody mention that astigmatism can affect night vision while driving!! Apparently the pupil reacting to headlights on a dark road not only changes the incoming light, but it increases the glare, too. I've gotten the AR coating on every pair of lenses I've had since my teens, and at night on the road, it only helps so much in the dark. Well-lit city streets? Not a problem at all.

So my question is this:
Anybody got any suggestions to help with night vision on darker roads, if one has astigmatism?

I highly doubt my vision is poor enough to bother even looking into laser surgery anytime soon, but I suppose that's one option. My current lenses aren't even a year old, and I feel like the prescription is still correct. Has anything helped you with this issue? I realize I could just cut back on my night riding out in the middle of nowhere, but shit happens, one can lose track of time, and I'm not sure I could avoid it completely.

Hi Witch, can you confirm your actual eye health is good! For example, did you go to an optician for a proper eye test and check up when you got your spectacles? They can pick up "most" eye illnesses, although not all. It seems strange you are experiencing so much glare/flare and it's troubling you. I guess it could be just that you are out of practice at night riding...but I also wonder if you have the start of cataracts in one or both eyes. We all get them, but these can happen at different times in our lives, mostly as we get older. Some (most) need treating but others don't. I have a friend who developed them very early and these had to be removed. He was 45yrs old but they started growing when he was late 30's. Cataracts can cause lots of eye issues including the glare and flare you mention. My own cataracts (now removed) started growing when I was 52yrs old. The thing is, if you are longsighted, and you have cataracts, it can cause other eye illnesses such as angle glaucoma (which I had), and again this can make you light sensitive to bright lights. It can cause the pupils to become sluggish, closing up a little slowly making bright light cause glare. It also causes raised eye pressures and sudden blindness. Eye pressures can be fine one minute when your optician tests them and sky high later. So it's a difficult disease to find.as your eyes can appear normal in all other respects. I went totally temporarily blind for several minutes becsuse it was undetectable by my optician. Luckily, I had both the cataracts and angle glaucoma cured. Angle glaucoma is the only glaucoma that can be totally cured but if not detected will eventually cause permanent blindness.

Having said all that, none of what I have mentioned is necessarily applicable to you, you woukd seem a bit young I'm guessing to develope angle glaucoma, but it does happen. My own symptoms were just like yours. Might be worth a visit to the optician though for a chat. Normally to detect angle glaucoma your eyes have to be anethestised and examined. That's done in specialist eye hospitals over here. Let us know how you get on with this and good luck.

Ps. Haven't said any of this to worry you, but I'd get it checked out

http://eyeopticians.co.uk/news/hoya-enroute-lens-launch/

Without glasses I see two sets of headlights one slightly above the other. I've not noticed any difference in glare or maybe I just got used to it?
But car headlights have got brighter over the past few years and the colour has got more blue/white.

I also have some sensitivity to light most bothered by bright sun light. Just last week I went to an ophthalmologist which I believe is a step or two above an optician, at least as it is described in US terms.

He said I have some astigmatism and cataracts which will cause light sensitivity. I am going to be having the cataract surgery in the next few months will see how that goes. Pun not intended but left it anyhow!

When I had my last exam this past summer, they did every test available in the office (I'd declined the glaucoma test for a couple years, so I went ahead and let them this time). They did actually say my eyes were very healthy, so thankfully, I doubt it's any kind of major disease. The only other noticeable issue I have is eye fatigue, but that's generally only when I spend the entire day reading/writing, which I figure would likely happen to almost anybody (I have next to no impulse control when it comes to "just one more chapter"). That doesn't bother me if I do something like riding all day long instead.

Figured I'd ask here since the main problem only bothers me when I'm riding, to see if anyone else had potential solutions or advice. I'll probably get my next eye exam sooner than I usually do. Normally I only go once every 3 years, and even then, I'm usually told it's probably not even worth bothering to change my lens prescription (last year it changed more than it has in a long time, but even then it was very minor).

My parents had/have astigmatism, so for the moment I'm just going to blame them.

I have too, but in my lenses there are cylinders to corrigate it. Don't you have?

This may seem too obvious but how scratched is your helmet face shield? I put a new shield on mine and it helped a lot!

I'm 62: Had my first comprehensive eye test for new prescription lenses in quite some time. I'm nearsighted with a fair amount of astigmatism, as well as what I'm told is the very earliest of markers for potential cataracts. The only time riding at night has been an issue for me, under the conditions you describe, is when I've had to deal with a fairly scratched/scuffed visor. Since you mention wearing glasses under goggles I'll assume you're not dealing with a visor, but all the same I'd have the lens on those goggles checked out.

Amatariat, I'm in EXACTLY the same boat. I'm 56, nearsighted, astigmatic, and with earliest markers for cataracts.

Only the glare off of visor scuffs, scratches, smudges, etc. bother me at night... For now!

I know of an older officer who is starting to be bothered by the overhead lights on a patrol unit creating too much glare. He was given a pair of yellow-colored glasses, in a not-too-dark shade, and states they have helped him immensely with overheads, and as a bonus, have also cut down on any glare from headlights.