Are prescription eyeglasses as important to use while driving as they are to read? Consumer Affairs reports on a recent survey by a manufacturer of optical lenses that discovered 20 percent of people who rely on prescription eyeglasses sometimes drive without their prescription eyewear. Instead, they may rely on sunglasses that are non-prescription to cut down on glare. Consumer Affairs reports that blinding glare comes from sun and snow and that only one-third of eyeglass wearers have prescription sunglasses with polarized lenses to fight the glare. Manufacturer Essilor reports that a driver who wears polarized lenses can improve their reaction time by one-third of a second, which at 50 miles per hour translates to 23 feet. Also, the company states that polarized lenses improve vision clarity by 75 percent.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has recently released statistics about motor vehicle accidents in 2009. The groups finds 33,808 people died in auto accidents in 2009, with 3,981 people age 70 and older counted among the fatalities.
The total number of deaths among those age 70 and older is on a decline and the group’s motor vehicle crashes account for less than 1 percent of fatalities. Fatal crashes begin to increase at age 75 and go up markedly after age 80, reports IIHS.
Night driving can be a particular problem for an older driver who has vision challenges. Night driving is a condition where the older eye does not adjust to conditions at night as well as a younger eye, making it difficult to see objects in the road and signs at night. Florida requires vision screening for older drivers.
The Jacksonville car crash lawyers at Farah & Farah are well-versed in auto accident cases among all ages of drivers in Florida. Call our offices for a complimentary and comprehensive consultation on your case.
