With recent developments in lens technology, we now have lenses for many different activities. These include sports, hobbies, computer work, protective glasses, and many more. Given that our vision needs to be perfectly clear and often enhanced at night, more people are having a pair of driving glasses. There are various options when it comes to driving glasses, and we’ll go through the pros and cons to help determine which lenses are best for you.
its worth noting that you don’t need to have a glasses prescription to benefit from driving glasses. This is especially noticeable when driving at night. We’ve all had the situation where oncoming headlights seem brighter than the sun and just keeping your eyes open is hard enough, let alone being able to focus on the road! A similar problem can often be experienced on especially bright days, with low sun. This is always made worse by the how the sun always manages to work its way around the visor! No matter how much you move around, the sun always appears to catch your eye and distract you whilst driving.
If you’re looking for a solution to either of those issues, we have the answer!
Anti-reflective coating
The most recommended lens upgrade for all glasses, not just for driving. An anti-reflective coating on your lenses will reduce reflections, glare and halos. This is particularly useful if you spend a lot of time on screens or suffer with eye strain. The main benefit to having an anti-reflective coating on your driving glasses is the amount of headlight glare the lenses cut out. Headlight glare is the main problem you face driving at night and this is the simplest way to help that. Anti-reflective coating is colourless, scratch resistant and cost effective, and can be applied to any lens, making this the most accessible option if you want to have a pair of glasses that tick all the boxes. You can also upgrade to easy clean which includes all these benefits along with the effortless easy cleaning technology.
Polarised lenses
If you’re having trouble during the daytime, polarised lenses are the best lenses for driving. Polarised lenses absorb incoming horizontal light, whilst allowing vertical light to pass through. When light bounces off a surface, such as a car bonnet, the light is absorbed and doesn’t compromise vision. The go-to example for how polarised lenses work is by looking at a body of water. With standard lenses, you will see the reflection of the sky and surroundings. However, when you look into the same water with polarised lenses, you’ll see straight through, as the reflection is absorbed. Obviously, we don’t expect that will specifically be of use while driving, unless you make a drastic wrong turn, but it gives you a good idea of the benefit.
Polarised lenses have the appearance of a sunglasses tint and can be fitted to almost any frame, with various colours. When you’re next looking at a pair of sunglasses, be sure to check if the lenses are polarised. Many brands indicate this with a ‘P’ on the lenses, but you can also do a simple test to figure out for yourself. Hold the sunglasses up to a screen and rotate them. You will find the screen goes black when rotated if they are polarised. This effect can make polarised lenses troublesome if you are using screens often!
Drive lenses. Smart gold
No prizes for guessing what these lenses are used for. Our smart gold coated lenses feature an enhanced anti-reflective coating, specially designed to cut out headlight glare. The coating has a gold colour, which absorbs 10% of light, enhancing colour and depth perception.
Although optimised for driving they are suitable for everyday wear, and have similar properties to an anti-reflective lens. The very slight colour is usually only noticeable against more pale skin tones and the colour you will see when you tilt the lens is gold.
Whether you are behind the wheel for hours each day, commute to work, or only on the odd occasion, you can benefit from our drive lenses and be confident that the lenses will perform well regardless of the light condition.