How do you elders cope with night driving?

OP, I'm 10 years your junior and am already dealing with this. I can still drive at night, but I've also noticed greater sensitivity to glare at night and reduced visibility in the dark. Just had an ophthalmologist exam (very extensive) and optometrist exam. Getting a new glasses prescription in a couple of weeks. Hopefully that does the trick.

Don't drive at night.

R2 is the real R1 of this thread.

Uber.

I’m 57 and rarely drive at night. I have an anti glare coating on my glasses but it doesn’t help much. Forget about driving at night in the rain, I might as well be blind.

I use the yellow/ amber "night vision" glasses to help deal with the glare. It's helped quite a bit with night driving. I've even managed to find a generic bifocal version so I can read Google maps on my cell phone when needed.

You all scare me.

I have had problems with night vision and depth perception, as well. My advice: don’t drink & drive. Not even one drink. Stick to familiar routes and places:

Good ideas.

I was *certain* this night driving issue had to be due to cataracts. I’d have had surgery.

Was disappointed to learn there’s not a whole lot to be done.

Might try those amber glasses.

[quote] I use the yellow/ amber "night vision" glasses to help deal with the glare.

[quote] Might try those amber glasses.

I had to have retina surgery a couple of years ago. Whenever you have retina surgery, you get a premature cataract. Within the year after the surgery, I had a dense cataract and it made it really hard to drive at night. I have a long commute, so I have to drive in the pre dawn hours, so I had to have the cataract removed. After I had the cataract removed, my vision improved such that I see better at night than I did before I had surgery on my retina. Although cataracts may be associated with advanced age, they can occur at ANY age (some people are even born with them). The first symptom that leads people to get checked for cataracts is reduced night vision/difficulty driving at night.

Amber glasses and check to see your headlights are not fogged over. The polycarbonate shell over the lamps reacts to atmospheric chemicals and can get scarred from wind-borne particles. They sell DIY kits to return them to crystal clear or have someone detail it for you. I was amazed at how much more powerful the lights are when they were cleaned up. Likewise cleaning the inside of the windshield. Off-gassing from the interior materials can put a film on the glass that reduces visibility. I had some bodywork done in June and when the were done, the shop had the car detailed, inside and out. It's amazing how grungy it can get over time.

OP, I’m 45 and have the same problems as R7.

Eyes are partly to blame, but these LED headlights on cars have made it twice as difficult, with regard to light reflection/diffusion/distortion. It looks like half the drivers are going around with their high-beams on— they’re not, it’s those blindingly bright LED headlights.

I had 20/20 vision up until 41 or so, but now I have the same problems as R7. It catches up with a person eventually, despite whatever one may think.

*distortion.

OBVIOUSLY.

I can’t drive at night. At first I thought it was my windshield being dirty. I kept cleaning it, but it didn’t get better. Then I We have no street lighting where I live - not even on the highway. It was hard for me to see the white lines on the road. It git really scary when there weren’t cars for me to follow behind. Then it snowed one night. That was the biggest terror of all. Couldn’t see white lines, couldn’t tell if I was on elevated ground. That’s when I said “This is it. You’re done.”

Went to eye Dr but prescription had t changed. Went to see a specialist and I have macular degeneration, also have Caracas bu5 they won’t replace lenses because they’re only about 20-30%.

So…there’s no cure, there’s no treatment. I can see in daytime but it’s getting difficult in areas I’m unfamiliar with because it’s hard for me to see signs ahead in the roadway and hard for me to see traffic lights (red? Green? Yellow?) until I get closer.

It’s very strange to not be able to see well, then you put on your glasses and …..you still can’t see. You’re just so used to having your glasses clear everything up …….it’s a real wake up call. I never figured this would happen to me. If I could I’d sell my house and move somewhere more populated with street lights and shops close to me. But my husband and son refuse to move.

I always preferred to have appointments in the afternoon but in winter I have to factor in how far away the place is and what time it gets dark outside.

I'm 38 and haven't driven at night for about 5 years. I have terrible contrast/retinal damage and i can't see safely at night. I hate it - either my partner drives or I just Uber.

I'm 70 and when I am absolutely forced to drive at night I have some night driving clip-ons that have yellow anti glare lenses. It definitely helps.

My friend suffered from this same glare problem for several years. After being treated for glaucoma and cataracts, the condition still persisted. He was ready to accept that he would never be able to drive again at night when another physician called him out of the blue. That doctor had remembered him from before and was treating a patient with a similar condition. They tried eye drops called Brimonidine Tartrate as a temporary solution; apparently, it was a game changer. He called my friend immediately and suggested a similar course of treatment.

The effects only last a few hours, but now my friend can drive at night, sit in rooms where he faces bright lights, and all those other glare-producing moments that really impaired his quality of life. I'm unsure if this would work for others, but it's worth checking out.

If you’re on a road with at least 2 lanes on your side stay to the right lane so you aren’t facing the oncoming headlights directly. That helps so much.

For dark lanes, sit comically up close to your driving wheel like Magoo.

Just think - some day self-driving cars will solve this. Not only will you not have to drive, but the car will drive itself without lights on. Why have lights on when the car can see in the dark with radar-like devices?

OP, “only 53” is an elder.

Have had driving jobs most of my life. After not driving @ night for some time, it took some time to adjust to night driving. After retiring, I don't drive very very much. Go to the gym M-W-F @ 12 a.m. Shop 4 groceries just before 6 a.m. Am not bothered by driving at night.

I don't drive at night. I live out in the countryside of New England and there are plentiful deer and other creatures, no thanks.

I have the same problems at night., OP.

At what age to do you think people should stop driving? It seems that most people call it a day at around eighty.

I ditched the car ten years ago and now I get to play “PRICED OUT” in urban gay ghettos.

One shouldn't drive; one should be driven.

[quote] Why have lights on when the car can see in the dark with radar-like devices?

Pedestrians and animals and people on motorcycles / bicycles.

A PBS documentary related people who entrusted driving to Tesla's self drive have died in those cars. A pedestrian was killed in Scottsdale AZ by a test vehicle's human observer who was looking at her phone instead of the road. And I would like hard data on how safe those lightless radar vehicles work. And others have to be able to see YOU. I have been driving when I have been around bicyclists are on black bikes, wearing a black outfits and no lighting on their bikes. Transfer that situation to a 5000-6000 lb SUV and think that you, pedestrian or driver may not see this dark shape hurtling towards you.

R11 has a good point, particularly about cleaning the inside of your windscreen. Partner bought a used car a few months back, and I think the previous owner was a smoker, there was a film of gunge all over the inside windows, after a week or two of driving it at night like that I took to it with paper towels and window cleaner, it made a huge difference. Modern polycarbonate headlights do also deteriorate as R11 says, there are products out there specifically designed to clean them and restore new, linked is the one I use, its called CRC Headlight Doctor and it works a treat, does require a bit of elbow grease but the results are fantastic

I'm 60 and I have no trouble night driving even on wet nights as long as the windscreen is clean. Partner finds it harder, but I do most of the driving anyway as he hates driving and I enjoy it

I'm still young and usually don't get home until it's dark out, but it's hard for me too. I'm nearsighted and also have astigmatism, so driving at night is almost a kind of torture. Even when I make sure my windshield and glasses are spotless, I still get blinded by other people's headlights.

2 autumns ago (I was 56), I was working outside of Boston (where they don't have overhead lights on a lot of their highways) and had to drive maybe 30-45 minutes depending where the location was. Many times it was before sunrise and after sunset, with biblical rains. i was fucking petrified all the time. because I could barely see, and everyone would drive so fast, especially semis. I wonder if the amber glasses would have helped.

Amber alert! Eldergay driving at night!

Amber glasses are good.

And yes clean the lenses on your headlights. You can do it yourself with a soft cloth and a tube of toothpaste. Spread the toothpaste on the lens with the cloth.....let it set for a few minutes, then wipe it off with the dry cloth.

I was really amazed that it works! And it makes a big difference if your lenses are fogged up.

Simple, OP. I just close my eyes.

[quote] Spread the toothpaste on the lens with the cloth.....let it set for a few minutes, then wipe it off with the dry cloth.

Yeah that worked for about half an hour. Then it went right back to what it looked like before I did it.

I don't drive at night unless I have to and I have driving glasses that cut glare.

Are they amber, R36?

I got amber swim goggles the year before last (from Aldi!) and it made everything high-def— I loved it, had no idea.

I will watch for amber-tinted glasses.

Until then, if you see me driving around with golden goggles, be sure to holler “Well I never in ALL MY LIFE!”

Mine aren't amber, but I like that idea!

gave up driving entirely in my forties. never been happier

r20 Hate to break it to you, but 53 is fairly young in terms of DL demographics.

I noticed maybe a year ago that I could no longer see to drive at night. I live in the boonies and most of the roads around me don't even have white lines, much less street lights. In addition, the LED headlights blind me to the point that I was just holding onto the steering wheel and slowing down to a crawl when a vehicle headed toward me. In town in the rain after dark, I actually ran up over a curb at a curve, and after that I knew I needed to stop driving at night. So I did.

I'm lucky -- since I'm retired, I can get everything I need to do done during the day. But there are motorcycle events I'd like to attend that don't start until, say, 7:30, and I can no longer go.

So if anyone has found a pair of the "amber" fitover-type sunglasses that actually work and don't break the bank, could you post the link(s) here? I'm afraid to buy something online that may not work or may not fit over my current glasses. TIA!!

R42, I can’t link to Amazon from DL, but if you enter this search term on Amazon you’ll see they have them for $16.97:

Ideal Eyewear Night Driving Wear Over Glasses Yellow Lens Fit Over Glasses

Thanks, R43! Looking at them now.

My 91-year-old grandmother went exploring on a new highway near her home. She wanted to see where it went. A policeman stopped her and told her she was going 80 mph in a 60 mph speed zone. She always did have a lead foot.

The policeman looked at her driver's license and told her she isn't allowed to drive that late. He showed her the letter code on the license. He told her he would have to give her a ticket. Her response:

"Why, you old shit pot."

The policeman came to her funeral three weeks later just to tell us that story. He said he was holding back laughter when she said that. He saw her obituary and decided to come see us. We could see Grandma doing this. She was feisty when she wanted to be.

What if they made a law saying everyone over 60 needed to take a road test to reme2 their license every year ….at night.

Dn’t worry. No state would hire more DMV people to perform that many road tests.

I wonder how much no-fault insurance has damaged road safety? Years ago I think insurance companies would take note of how many accidents LED lights were mentioned in. And carmakers would’ve been told to find a way to stop blinding people with headlights.

But with no fault insurance, they don’t care.

Then again, back in Real Media days the parents of news reporters would’ve been bugging reporters “Do some research into these damn headlights they’re driving me crazy!” But Nowadays Media is fixated on reporting the latest Tik Tok fad and on demonizing weight loss drugs. All the reporters are from rich families who don’t need to drive. And young audience members are bankrupting themselves using Door Dash. .

Reme2 seems like a good video game name.

They sell amber or yellow tinted glasses for night driving, but it seems like if it's a huge problem, that's not really going to solve it.

Certain car manufacturers (Audi as example) offer a night vision assistant. After driving in a place like Palm Springs recently where there aren't any street lights in residential areas, I would a need a car with this feature if I lived somewhere like that.

I started having this problem and then as a result now have extreme anxiety about driving on highways, even during the day. So I recently moved to the center of my city so I can walk and ride my bike everywhere. Yes, I’m a high strung elderly DLer, walking to mass and to the bodega for scratch offs, daintily lifting my caftan when I encounter puddles or other detritus. Better than white knuckling a steering wheel.

I don’t even drive but am regularly screaming at my beloved Driver at night from the passenger seat because all I can see is a panoply of glaring lights.

Threads like this keep me coming back to DL. I’m 51, I hate driving now, especially at night.

Yes I am old, I can’t help it! When I started driving, if someone was backing out of a parking spot, you stopped, you let them out, gave them a friendly wave. At a multiple stop-sign intersection, you always gave the other driver the option of going ahead of you just to be decent. About 15+ years ago I really started noticing that all going out the window in parking lots at grocery stores. People are much more aggressive in their driving now, it is unpleasant, similar to flying for me. Like who the fuck actually wants to fly right now? Sure, I love travel and will continue to travel, but goddamn, flying sucks and people are THE WORST.

And I love people lol!!! But who I don’t love? Fucking Americans. I’m not kidding. I think American culture sucks ass, and long gone are the days of niceties, pleasantries, polite chit chat, making small talk, having a nice conversation with a perfect stranger. That’s all gone. People are stressed the fuck out (I am too) and paranoid and there is a general vibe of perma-anger throughout our culture. I do tend to still love working class people who aren’t MAGATS, and marginalized people can be wonderfully open too.

But in general, I now avoid the public at all costs, I never ever shop in stores, rarely dine out (it’s too loud I can’t fucking hear now too), and I only hit a movie maybe once every two years, and that is too often because I can’t stand being around people. Where I live in the Chicago Burbs continues to become more diverse, that is the one change that I welcome. I recently saw Barbie in Oak Brook, and the theater has many many more black people than in the past, and that feels good. Maybe who I really hate are just American white conservatives?

All this to say…..I need yellow night driving goggles.

At night, don't drive if it's raining or if there's fog or bad weather.

I do okay with street driving at night in an area I'm familiar with, but I would not highway drive at night now. 53. Dark driving in inclement weather even if it's light? Very scary. No cataracts but I'm very photophobic.

** wakes up from 25-year nap ***

YAWN. Did someone say 'Amber'?

I didn't know about amber clip-ons. Thank you for the info, I just ordered a pair.

68 here. Nightime driving has gotten increasingly difficult over the last 5-10 years, sometimes because of the glare from LED lights but more often from depth perception. It's gotten harder for me to determine how far objects are especially in the dark. It also seems that it's difficult to determine when things approach from the sides.

I dont anymore. At 68 my night vision is terrible. Why put myself and others at risk.

I can do whatever I need to do during daylight hrs

DL, are we old?

Driving yourselves? Are you people poors?

I’m 65 and I really have no problem with night driving. Naturally if I’m on some dark road I use hi beams. But I did that when I was 20.

R46 You seem to need reading glasses

I had cataract surgery last yr and for about a week my vision was perfect...of course if there are rare side effects, Ill be the one in a million to get them

So, I ended up with some kind of retina problem in my left eye. I got a shot of steroids (nope not painful) and it took about 5 months for the swelling and retina to get back to normal

THEN I got a tear in the same retina and needs it repaired by laser..Ouch

This eye will forever be bad and after all that, my vision sucks again

R63 oh no... I'm so sorry to hear that. Most cataract surgery goes smoothly; sorry to hear yours didn't. This would be a big fear of mine and I'll probably eventually need it, too.

[quote][R2] is the real [R1] of this thread.

Only if "you stupid cunt." were added to it.

We get into accidents.

If I need to go somewhere at night and don't have someone to drive me, I take a cab. I haven't been able to drive at night since I was in my mid-50's.

r59, yep. But OP doesnt't get it yet.

It doesn't help that these new LED headlights are brighter than the sun and the dumb asses drivers that don't know how to turn off their high beams in the middle of the city.

OMG. Some of you sound SOOOO old and even worse - some of you posing in your forties and fifties who are wilfully old before your time and sinking into senility and learned helplessness. Pathetic. You should have your driving licences revoked because if you can't drive at night then you also can't drive in the daylight either. Scary to have you cunts on the road killing other people.

r70, how old are you? Most of us in this threat have stopped driving when we realized we were a danger driving at night.

I'll be 54 in mid-October R71. Good to hear that you have ceased driving vehicles on the road because if you can't drive at night then you are also a menacing danger to other road users during daylight hours.

What bothers me most about some of the posters my age and younger in this thread is the complete "giving up" and not even trying to stay current and functioning. The wilful leaning into being elderly at 50 way before your time. I realize there are a lot of posters who are burdened with mental illness and take a lot of medications and don't leave the house much on DL and this must be one of those threads. I'll leave you all to it as my posts in this thread are not productive.

Some of you could try a little harder to stay young and be a part of the world is what I'm getting from this thread.

I don’t leave the house much nor do I drive at night anymore. I live in Chicago where carjackers and armed thugs roam the streets every night .

r70, do you want us those of us who admit to not being able to drive at night to be back on the road? I really don't get your post. Not giving up in any sense.

R72 i someone has recognised that they cannot drive safely at night, then I applaud them for stopping. I wish more people recognised their limitations like this, the roads would be safer

[quote]You should have your driving licences revoked because if you can't drive at night then you also can't drive in the daylight either.

I thought I was pretty clear R74.

I just wing it.

I have an asphalt-colored car, but I would recommend driving a white car so that others can see you on the road.

Those freakin' bright headlights are the main reason more people are having a problem with night driving at a younger age.

Get a fucking driver.

R72, Try harder how?

WTF are we supposed to do, take our eyeballs to the Low-T clinic and get them personal trainers?

PLEASE DON'T PET MY SERVICE DOG! 🐶

How old are you R81?

I have been doing a 300 mile drive (600 r/t) to my mom's home in VA since 2001. I did my last one a few weeks ago (she has passed). I always drove at night - left around 1AM, drove 4-5 hours in the dark. I chose that to not have to deal with insane drivers and heavy traffic during the day - at night it's just me and trucks on the PA Turnpike and interstate 81. I wear bifocals to read and do computer work, but got myself some single-vision driving glasses to reduce eye strain at night. I also have some drops handy to keep my eyes lubricated. And there are enough other vehicles out (mostly trucks) that could always be sure to have tail lights ahead of me to follow. The very worst part of night driving, though, was if it rained or snowed. Then I would truly question my sanity.

Turning into a Walkmart, I couldn’t see the white lines of an island, and veered back onto the highway rather than drive over it, sideswiping a van and causing $12,000 damage to my VW Beetle. I had this problem even wearing contact lenses and it was mostly corrected when I finally got LASIK. You should know if you have pale blonde/green eyes you are more sensitive to glare as you lack pigment.

I still refuse to drive just before dawn because it’s so dark, and always check when sunrise is asking Siri.

This thread is the first time I’ve heard of a lot of people in their 50s or 60s not being able to drive at night. I’m assuming most of you in that situation have some defintie eye problems to begin with. As I already stated I’m 65 and have no trouble driving at night and all my friends who are my age also drive at night. I remember m mom stopped driving at night when she was in her late 70s. Several people I work with drive at night in their 70s.

Driving at night is scary. First, you have to worry about the animals. Secondly, the Truckers are out of control. We almost got smothered by one on a recent night drive.

R70/72 suck my dick. How do you possibly interpret people who don’t drive at night to have given up or embrace being elderly? I can’t fucking see in the dark so I no longer drive at night if I don’t have to. I get a ride with a friend or take an Uber. Would you prefer I keep driving at night and possibly cause an accident? If I got lucky you would be in the other car.

[quote] Several people I work with drive at night in their 70s.

Sure, but plenty of olds are incompetent to drive but would sooner die than admit it. Just because they ARE doing it doesn't mean they ought to be.

One thing my yellow night driving glasses do if I wear them in the day time is turn the windshields of all other cars a milky blue. They react to the anti glare coating manufacturers put on car windshields.

Well smell Miss r86 with her superior eyes.

R91 I’m just saying this is the first time I’ve ever heard of people giving up night driving in their early 50s.

It gets dark at 4pm in the winter, what do you do?

Yeah - I agree with R50 about Palm Springs. They actively try to reduce sky pollution so there aren't many street lights except off the major streets.

It's dark as shit in many areas of SoCal late at night - even in urban areas.

It's the LED LIGHTS. They bothered me when I was 45, they're impossible at 60. I just make sure I'm home by 5PM. Feel like Cinderella.

I'm OK on the freeway but I not so much on city streets where cars and people are coming from every direction. I find that dizzying at times.

R91, Miss R86 is clearly projecting her own insecurity/terror about growing older onto us.

We're just saying our eyes don't work well enough to 'operate heavy machinery' after dark.

But what the fuck is anyone supposed to do to 'try harder' to 'stay younger' when their eyes don't function optimally? You're the one who keeps bringing it up, what's the answer?

What is the population of your town? I say "town" because there's no way you would suggest we drive far or on unfamiliar streets/freeways at night (just so your dumb, delusional ass feel better about your own getting older) if you lived in a large metropolitan area. Let's hear it.

And to answer your question, I'm 45. The lights mess with my eyes at night, changing the way I perceive things are coming my way (if they're even really there at all)! Light bounces around off the windshield, light bounces off building glass and off wet streets, etc. and if you have some of the eye issues posters in this thread are talking about, it makes it hard to drive safely because one doesn't know what they're actually seeing or not seeing.

It's a vision issue, if that hasn't been made abundantly clear to you.

You seem extremely sensitive about this; you take it personally in a way that betrays your own insecurity. Most people who don't have these issues would just skip over this thread, but you seem triggered by it, although it isn't relevant to you as you don't seem to have and vision problems.

Your prickliness at the idea that parts of you will falter as you get older and you can do little to nothing about it is not the problem of anyone in this thread, that's your problem. But when something like that does inevitably happen to you, and it's a body part you can't fix, like say, your central nervous system starts to glitch out or your immune system mistakes your body's connective tissues as a foreign invader that needs to be destroyed, you can come back here and read your own advice to others in this thread as inspiration. Remember, you all you need to do is just need to "try harder to be younger." Don't ever forget that!

[quote]Feel like Cinderella.

Honey, you felt like that when you were 12.

That’s the time of night when the vision impaired /demented tell me I’m at my prettiest.

All the meat is at home because of LED lights… We need short buses for old queens.

I am a senior. I refuse to drive after dark unless it is necessary. Even during the daytime, I detest driving on busy freeways and other heavy traffic.

More drivers are rude and dangerous nowadays. Cops are not monitoring and nailing very aggressive drivers near as much as prior.

Stop feeding the troll, ladies.

How about the way no one changes lanes to let people merge on freeways anymore?

I used to think I was blinded because the asshole facing me would flash their brights TO BLIND me. Then I realized it was the newer LED headlights. It wasn't this way 20 years ago.

R70 you may be young now? Just wait. I used to feel like you then age creeps up on you (rather fast I might add). Be kind to us Eldergays your time will come and you will understand what we are dealing with…. Bless your ignorance and your mean energy.

Old age - we are coming for you, too, R70.

R97 nailed it. ITA. Good for you.

For most people, writing a screed like R70's would seem to be a lot of work.

But for R70, it just rolls on out. Like diarrhea.

R97 I’m sorry, I’m just stating that in my experience I haven’t known many people under about 75 who say they can’t drive at night any more. I’m not trying to be superior, I’m just surprised. As I say, I’m 65. I live in a suburb. I also drive on the highway and in the city. I’m sure the time will come when I can’t see well enough to drive at night. It just so happens that most of the people I know who are my age are still working or active and often have to drive at night. I didn’t know it was a problem for 40 or 50 year olds. No offense intended, I am just surprised that problem is so pervasive at that age and no one I know has ever mentioned it.

I wonder if all the new tech with televisions/phones/tablets have started ruining our eyes, hence the younger generations getting cataracts (my opthamologist says that it's a pretty inevitable symptom of aging) and macular degeneration.

Besides LED lights, there are the lights on SUVs, positioned right about perfectly to blind the driver of a regular car.

When I still had myopia with cataracts up to about age 67, eventually I saw not just halos but fireworks as oncoming headlights. Doc told me not to drive at night.

Post-cataract surgeries, and with them the elimination of my nearsightedness, I am able to drive at night at age 73.

HOWEVER, the auto design trend towards much brighter lights and the height of SUV headlamps STILL and NONETHELESS pose serious nighttime dangers for every driver in an oncoming car.

[quote]I wonder if all the new tech with televisions/phones/tablets have started ruining our eyes

BINGO!

Yes!^

Normally when you turn 40 it's time to get a pair of 'readers" However my eye doctor recently told me that for the last decade she's had people in their 20s coming in for readers. She said that our eyes were never meant to work that hard the way we make them do on phone and tablets.

JFC, another thing to worry about.

R64. Thankfully an Optometrist in this tiny little town I moved to, took me in right away when he was booked three month in advance. He had the most mourner equipment and saw what the promenade was right away and got me in with a Retina guy that same week.

I never would have expected such great care in the middle of nowhere in WV. Many of their Dr are right out of UWV and are fantastic..unlike the butcher in Florida. Thats where the surgery was done.

If I knew the problems I was going to have I never would have gotten the cataract surgery. I really had it done to improve my night vision LOL...Oh well, at least he saved my sight.

Years ago I had a small cyst on the back of my leg removed. This was up on Long Island..I got gangrene> I had abdomen Surrey, 5 days later I was back in the hospital with a blockage . I spent three weeks there..the list if Murphys Law applying to me goes on and on

Now I need a total shoulder replacement but wont do it as I would probably lose the arm

R86 I come from a long line of family with very bad eyesight...good for you and your friends.

At least some of us know our limitations and dont want to put ourself or others on the road in danger...perhaps you are in denial??

I prefer "vintage" to "elder".

Obvious dear.

I hate driving. I live in a city where a car isn't needed but I own one for work travel and random trips. Once I retire I will be happy to unload my car for good. I'm 54 so still a few years away but I won't be worried about night driving, that's for sure.

I have Lewy Body dementia. I only drive within two miles of my home anymore. Luckily Kroger and Starbucks are within that distance. There are times in the recent past when I was driving, I suddenly didn't know where I was, even though I have driven those roads for 50 years. It's scary. I've never had an accident or a ticket, but I feel I cannot react fast enough to the increasingly-rude drivers who think they own the road and butt it wherever they want to.

I can drive comfortably to my relatives' houses. which are five miles away. Otherwise, I ask others for a ride. I have to selectively call on them so I'm not a pest.

I miss the independence, but I know it's the safe thing to do. I have Datalounge and other sites to keep me entertained. I now define the words "Binge TV watcher".

R72, You are seriously stupid. One's vision is not like one's diet, exercise regimen, or beauty routine.

I mean, sure, one can poke oneself in the eye with a sharp stick; but cataracts, their effects, and their surgical removal have ZERO TO DO WITH your beyond asinine "leaning into old age" buffoonery.

Grow up. If you're lucky, you'll also grow old(er). If you're even luckier, you won't on the road at night meet any of us "Olds" who agree with you. J/S.

I will drive a maximum of 35 miles to very familiar destinations. Long trips, the partner drives. I don’t drive after dark and before 6am. I cope with a couple of disabilities.

I know people who had trouble with night driving in their 20s. When I find myself feeling a little less safe at night, I know it's time for a visit to the optometrist.

If a new prescription doesn't help, then you really should curtail your night driving, esp. to unfamiliar or congested places.

About ten years ago we took the Rotterdam on a cruise around South America. It's a long trip and after a while, you get to know, if only by sight, some of your fellow passengers. Particularly late at night when the people who drink keep drinking and a few strays were in one lounge or another listening (as we were that night) to the DJ playing Elvis songs. Which for most of the passengers were age-appropriate: they'd heard them the first time around. I was young then, too, but I was maybe 4 or 5 when "Hound Dog" came out.

As we were leaving one night, we could hear a man screaming "Help! Help! Get me out of here" from behind the rest room door. An elderly woman in the lobby asked if we could help free her boyfriend because she'd tried and couldn't open the door. We were able to get him out after ascertaining, yelling through the jammed door, that he'd hooked his walker under the crash bar on his way out and it was wedged underneath. He didn't have the strength to un-wedge it but with a bit of jiggling the door opened and we freed him. We then realized he was the guy who "danced" while clutching the walker as she did a geriatic version of the twist. And sort of marveled that people that old could still get out and have a good time, in this case at 1 in the morning off the coast of Peru.

When he was free, she first made him take his meds with a sip of her whiskey sour and by way of saying thanks told us a bit of their story as we all walked to the elevators. Sweethearts during WW II, they'd lost track of each other and both married (and buried) other people after the war before reconnecting in their 80's. He was living in Eire, PA and she lived in Syracuse, NY, when they met; cities about 250 miles apart, a drive he made every weekend for the four or five years they'd been "dating." It's about 250 miles each way. We were very relieved to hear that a month or two before they embarked on the cruise, he'd agreed to move in with her at the age of 90 and that they were happily living together in her daughter's house in Syracuse as we put them on the elevator and walked to our cabin.

As we looked at each other and said "...and no longer a 90-year-old on a walker terrifying drivers on Interstate 90 twice a week."

R114 Your spelling indicates your eyesight might still not be too great.

R123 One of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever read in my life.

R5 I am buying amber glasses asap. I like the way they look and had forgotten they are good for that. Great tip.

Accept that some things will have to die when you get on the road. Hope that they aren't important to someone, like a child or grandpa.

Same. My optometrist says it's all very normal. I don't really avoid driving at night around town, though I'm not super motivated to do it, so if something can be done in daylight, I may wait. I definitely try to avoid long distance, highway driving at night.

And, at times, I'll put on my reading glasses in the car when driving at night. That helps sometimes. Other than that, I drive "old" - slow(er) and (usually) cautiously. I'm 51 BTW.

I have really bad vision in left eye and pretty bad in right. I wear contacts with no problem. Now I have to have readers too. I am not a candidate for surgery until my cataracts/age is covered by insurance. Also have astigmatism in both eyes. So I'm already fucked when it comes to eyesight.

When I was taking drivers ed 40 years ago, we drove once after dark. I was a struggling. The instructor was concerned about my night vision and told my mom that night that I should be taken to a doctor before allowed to drive at night. My mom just ignored him completely and told me to be careful. Now I stick to familiar roads, take ubers or stay home now. It's not worth it.

A lot of lengthy posts for a question that was answered simply in the first few posts. If you can’t see well at night, (or anytime) , don’t drive. You cope by doing any needed driving when you can see and use. Uber or equivalent at other times(or walk or public transportation) .

R72 = Mr. Magoo

[quote] if you can't drive at night then you are also a menacing danger to other road users during daylight hours

I see fine in daytime but don’t drive at night because macular degeneration affects my night vision, not my daytime vision. There are no streetlights where I live, not even on the highway.

Had cataract surgery at 65, discovered then I had glaucoma. Following surgery, glaucoma treatment consisted of eye drops twice a day. All was well in terms of driving, day and night for a few years. By 69, I realized that driving at night had become a problem. I live in a semi rural area, most streets very poorly lit. The oncoming headlights on highways are blinding. So, I gave up driving at night unless it is a dire emergency. It is limiting, especially because there is little public transportation here, cabs unheard of, Ubers rare. Eventually I will have to limit driving during the day to necessities, then give it up earlier than I anticipated.

I do agree that the newer headlights on cars are unnecessarily bright, even blinding.

OP. I drink carrot juice and take a Lutein supplement. Helps with night vision and my skin looks good too!