Recent experience with yellow driving glasses (LONG) Pic added

Fair warning, this is going to be a long post containing my experiences with two pairs of yellow/orange driving glasses. I even did a small science experiment to see which pair was "better".

First off, I tried a cheap, plastic-framed pair I think I purchased at Lowe's. I used them on a trip to Reno earlier in the year and found them pretty useful. See my comments here. https://smith-wessonforum.com/142105540-post16.html

On the way to Texas for Christmas it was cloudy across New Mexico, a sort of "meh" grey stratus layer. Just for grins, I asked my wife to dig out the yellow glasses for me. As luck would have it, one of the arms broke off (remember I said cheap) but I slapped them on any way. WOW! What a difference. The grey funkiness I was seeing went away and the whole scene was brighter, but somehow more restful for my eyes. Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but that's what I see. I can only think it is because the balance between ends of the color spectrum is disrupted by the clouds, with the blue end starting to dominate.

Couple of days later we were in Walmart and there were more "driving glasses". I scored two pairs of aviator style metal framed glass for about $15 each. Yep, they work to improve contrast on cloudy days, but I also noticed that they did not reduce my night vision range to any degree I could detect. The tint looks subtly different from my broken pair. I wore these glasses after the sun went below the horizon for our return trip and found them great. Not only do they kill the blue/purple smear from oncoming lights, but they do so without reducing what I can see with my own lights. In fact, when I popped them up for a comparison, I was immediately struck by how much blue was in my headlight pattern.

Today I did a little test to determine if there was a difference between the glasses in UV rejection. The Walmart glasses come labeled "100% UV block". I also compared the glasses to the UV blocking goggles I use with my blacklight when scorpion hunting. The test was to shine my blacklight on a white painted door and view the scene through the various glasses. The broken glasses and the goggles reduced the brightness of the UV light by about the same amount, but you can still see quite a lot of purple. The Walmart glasses killed all of that. The patch of light on the door looked pale blue with no purple at all. This would explain why they kill the weird blue/purple effects from oncoming HID and LED headlights.

I guess they really do what they say on the label. I recommend the Walmart glasses if you are having issues with modern headlights.

I just close my eyes when I see bright headlights.

SMSgt said:

I just close my eyes when I see bright headlights.

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What could go wrong with that?

SMSgt said:

I just close my eyes when I see bright headlights.

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That works real well on a busy I-40 between Amarillo and Albuquerque. It's only 347 miles, after all.

Night vision when you get older is a problem driving.

Interesting write-up, thanks. I usually treat those "driving glasses" with the yellow lenses with skepticism and see them as more of a scam that end up in the bottom of your console or back of your glove box after you find they don't work as advertised. I wonder if prescription lenses can be made with the correct tint that performs as the store bought glasses.

I've been using some yellow clip-ons for several years due to the 'halo' effect. The halo is still there but not as disconcerting, much easier driving. For me driving on the state roads are not a problem but the winding back roads are something I avoid.

STCM(SW) said:

Night vision when you get older is a problem driving.

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Often the result of cataracts -- mine got removed in February of last year, glare of headlights is no longer any problem.

Somewhere, I've got a pair of long ago prescription shooting glasses with a yellow tint. Can't recall if I ever used them for night driving, but they were somewhat helpful in daylight.

Thanks for the research. You are not alone

LVSteve said:

...I was immediately struck by how much blue was in my headlight pattern. ...This would explain why they kill the weird blue/purple effects from oncoming HID and LED headlights...

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That says a lot right there. I HATE those "blue" headlights. Some even seem purple. I find lights over 5000K have too much blue in them. I use 5000K lights in my basement shop and I find that's "pure white" and good for detail but some lights advertised as "daylight" are 6500K.

I just read a recent article on headlights and glare:

Headlights seem a lot brighter these days — because they are
It would seem that your Walmart glasses have the right kind of filtering.

Daniel Stern has long been a vocal critic of headlight standards in the US. I bought a pair of Cibie Z-beams from him for my '96 Firebirds. Wattage read the same as the DoT spec lights, but the beam patterns high and low were so superior it wasn't funny.

I'm going to start another thread on the causes of headlight glare based on stuff I saw over the last couple of weeks.

The other problem is dudes with jacked-up mega-trucks with monster headlights. Maybe useful on backwoods roads if you're doing S&R but a nightmare when they're behind you and their lights are level with your back window

LVSteve,

I have assumed, probably correctly, that my problem with night driving was more the new brighter headlights than my (so far) uncorrected cataracts. I also assumed that the utility of the yellow lenses was BS, because their advertisement was parallel with other BS advertisements. Your recounting of your experience and your reference to recognizable explanation thereof have convinced me that my second assumption was mistaken.

Thank you. I shall try them out.

BTW, it might be interesting to review Edwin Land's proposed solution many decades ago. [Google "Edwin Land Polaroid headlights".] Despite the expense and the obvious financial interest, it might have been (and might still be) a very useful solution.

ImprovedModel56Fan said:

...BTW, it might be interesting to review Edwin Land's proposed solution many decades ago. [Google "Edwin Land Polaroid headlights".] Despite the expense and the obvious financial interest, it might have been (and might still be) a very useful solution.

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Thanks for this. I just found this article on Land and his polarized lights.
The Glare in the Eyes of Edwin LandI personally don't have any problem dimming my high beams for oncoming cars. And it would seem that polarized lenses on headlights would be a more practical alternative to some of the technology mentioned in the CBC article I linked above:I don't doubt that this works, but I'm not enthusiastic about adding yet more high tech computerized electronics to our cars.

I have a bunch of different shooting glass lenses. colors and tints. 3 different yellow tints. Ophthalmologist told me I may get a little help from yellow at night...but mostly on the lighter tints. He was right...the lighter yellow work somewhat at might. But I don't find them distinctively "better". I had cataracts removed and my night vision is improved...but some cars have really harsh headlights. I drive less and slower at night...esp during the rutting season. The doc also told me...there ain't no free lunch...the darker the lenses the less light ...even at night. My darkest shooting color is a medium vermillion...makes orange stand out esp against green background. They don't help night vision...LOL. I just checked. I have 19 different colors and tints(I was a SERIOUS shooter)

Gonna have to look into the clip-ons as I wear prescription glasses. Took a road trip for Christmas. First night driving I've done in several years. It was raining heavily and the glare from the oncoming headlights made the lines on the road very hard to see. Hopefully they will help. I'd hate to have to give up night driving, but not as much as giving up everything.

nothing to do with driving.. but if you shoot trap or skeet or sporting clays, a set of "rose" colored lens makes the clays really pop visually... like a highlighter...

Pisgah said:

Often the result of cataracts -- mine got removed in February of last year, glare of headlights is no longer any problem.

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Before I had my cataract operations, I used to get huge haloes around oncoming headlights at night. Now those have disappeared.

I have been using yellow glasses for driving for years. They seem to be particularly helpful to me when driving in mist or drizzle. The yellow glasses seem to cut through easily.

These are what I got from Walmart. Decades ago in the UK I had a pair of polarized, brown tinted sunglasses that gave superb contrast between the road and grass verges.

My wife and I were just discussing this topic. Neither of us needs cataract surgery yet. Both of us have found the yellow glasses (mine are prescription) to be helpful in the same way as described.