Specsavers Ripley's plea to drivers this winter
Icy roads combined with winter sun and shorter days means drivers need to be extra vigilant – especially when it comes to their vision.
Research shows that nearly a fifth of motorists (19%) who need glasses for driving have not had their eyes tested for three years or more – this together with new statistics from the Association of Optometrists (AOP) that found two-thirds of people who wear glasses or contact lenses are “putting off” paying for vision correction, bring more potential risk for drivers.
To help, Specsavers Ripley is sharing advice on how to access affordable eye care, as well as advice to ensure our eyes remain safely and firmly on the road.
1. Make sure your prescription is up to date
It is so important to keep up to date with your eye tests – at least once every two years or more often if required by your optometrist. Many people are entitled to free eye tests on the NHS, including people aged 60 or over, those under 18 in full-time education and anyone diagnosed with diabetes or glaucoma. If you are over 40 and your mother, father, sibling or child has been diagnosed with glaucoma you are also eligible. You're also entitled if you, your partner - or if under the age of 20 your dependent - is receiving income support. In a number of cases the NHS will also give an optical voucher towards the cost of glasses or contact lenses, so booking an appointment with your local optometrist to discuss options could be a useful way to access free eye care this winter.
2. Driving in winter sun
Polarised lenses are a good option for driving in daylight as they eliminate glare from horizontal surfaces, such as roads, water and snow. They also offer 100% UV protection, improve contrast and help ease the strain on your eyes, so they are particularly good for driving in bright conditions. Polarising lenses can sometimes affect the viewing of LCD displays though, so that’s something to bear in mind when wearing them.
3. Dry air
Many of us know that the air can get dry and crisp during the winter. It can be bad for our eyes and sometimes our driving habits can make them worse. One thing drivers can do is make sure heating vents are angled in such a way that hot air is not blowing into the face, as this can dry out eyes. Also – make sure to blink regularly, which sounds obvious – but blinking is the way we naturally refresh the surface of our eyes with fluid, preventing dryness. When we are very focused and attentive on something (such as driving), our tendency is to blink less.
4. Driving on shorter days
Low light levels cause the pupil of the eye to become larger and this can accentuate any focusing errors – no matter how minor – causing blur. This is especially prevalent during wet weather, making hazards or obstacles harder to spot.
At night it's important to wear a pair of glasses or contact lenses with an up-to-date prescription. This is especially important if you have an astigmatism, as the pupil dilates to let in more light, which can lead to vision looking even more blurred. While lens options such as an anti-glare treatment can help, for contact lens wearers with sizable astigmatism it is important to correct that by wearing toric contact lenses.
5. Think about the right lenses
Glasses wearers may benefit from having their lenses coated with Specsavers UltraClear SuperClean – an anti-reflection and scratch-resistant treatment. It also has the added benefits of being water-repellent, smudge-resistant and anti-static. This means that lenses have less reflections and reduces dazzle caused by headlights and streetlamps, attract less dust, stay cleaner for longer and are easier to clean, which helps give clarity while driving day or night. For contact lens wearers, it’s recommended to also carry glasses with you in the car, to ensure they always have a back-up in the event of running low on lenses or solution.
Ray Gohil, store director at Specsavers Ripley, says: ‘Having good eyesight is one of the most basic requirements of safe driving. It means drivers will be able to spot potential dangers, see pedestrians and other vehicles, read road signs and judge speed, distance and movement. Without this, there can be catastrophic consequences on the road – and even more so when changes to weather make driving conditions precarious, which isn’t unusual for this time of year.
‘While we want to encourage all drivers to have an up-to-date eye test to ensure that they can see clearly on the road, for those who do wear glasses, it is also important to ensure that their lenses are suitable for driving too.’
For more information or to book a test visit www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/ripley
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