This One Simple Trick Will FIX Your Night Blindness!
As I get older I notice my body is not what it used to be. At 30 I threw out my back carrying a chair despite regularly lifting far heavier objects daily. My eyes have always been fantastic, aside from that pesky astigmatism, with no corrective lenses needed. However, I began finding myself unable to see as well when driving at night, and this concerned me.
I wondered if I may be at the beginning of night blindness, a condition often stemming from other eye diseases where it is very difficult to see at night. This was surprising though because my eyes never had let me down, so then I contemplated aging. Is my body breaking down? Are my eyes, which are my main bridge to the world, dying?
This fear, paired with the real issue of ever-increasingly bright and at driver-height lights made driving at night a problem. If it was just me on a road it may be fine, however I still felt even there I couldn't see as well as I used to be able to.
I used to primarily drive a 2014 sedan, however in the past few years I've been driving a 2019 crossover more often with a touch screen infotainment system. Beyond that, there are also backlit screens where the speedometer is. One day I had to take the 2014 sedan again which I had set to turn nearly every set of interior lights off at night and like magic I could see the road perfectly again after dark!
A new hypothesis was forming through neuronal zaps and chemical releases in my brain: are the backlit screens in the newer cars preventing my eyes from adjusting to the dark?
I know from working remote if I want to use my laptop outside the best way to ensure I can see my laptop screen is to try to block the sun with an umbrella or a hat, so my pupils won't constrict quite so much and can let the light from the laptop monitor in. Maybe the opposite is happening in the car? Are the screens preventing my eyes from dilating enough to see outside of the car? It's the same effect if you use a phone in a dark room, pretty soon while you can see the phone well the rest of the room goes blurry and dark.
Going through the menu (two touchscreen taps) I was able to turn the display completely off and try driving. And you'll never believe it, but I could see again!
This is a great example of how technology in our lives should be limited. I know it is great to have a GPS map, however at night, even on 'night mode' those infotainment screens are not OLED displays and they are pumping out enough light that prevents you from being able to see the road like you should be able to. You aren't necessarily going blind, your car may just be shining flashlights in your eyes while you're trying to drive at night.
So at night, if you can, please try turning off your infotainment display, dim your dash as much as you can, and see what a difference it makes in your ability to really view what's going on around your car. You'll be a safer driver, and feel more confident for it!