Motorists over the age of 65 have been issued a “nine-second” eyesight warning, with concerns that elderly drivers could struggle in low light. The Older Drivers Forum explained that eyesight “changes in later life”, and the recovery time from headlight glare increases significantly as road users age.
Instead of glare disrupting vision for just a couple of seconds, pensioners may be temporarily blinded for up to nine seconds. This can make it harder for elderly road users to see hazards and obstacles at night.
Eyesight changes with age
The Older Drivers Forum stated: “Your eyesight changes in later life and this may make it harder to see road signs and other road users, especially in low light. Did you know that between the ages of 15 and 65 the recovery time from glare increases from 2 to 9 seconds.”
“This may be why as we get older we don’t like to drive at night. Older drivers frequently have difficulty seeing in poor light conditions as our eyes become less able to react quickly to changes in light. As we get older we also start to have difficulty with colours and contrasts in poor light.”
Government to investigate glare
The Department for Transport (DfT) has previously explained that visual acuity and sharpness decrease as individuals age. They stressed that medical conditions affecting the field of vision are more likely to develop in later life, and the ability to recover from headlight glare reduces.
However, headlight glare does not only impact older motorists, with data from the RAC suggesting the issue has affected road users across the country. Over half of road users polled (53%) said they had been temporarily blinded when driving.
The Government is now expected to look into the issue of headlamp glare, with the problem identified in the DfT’s Road Safety Strategy. According to the report, the government will undertake research to identify what vehicle design factors may be responsible for increased headlamp glare. The document claims that the findings of any research could then be used to generate proposals for amendments to international vehicle lighting regulations.
