Are Polarized Sunglasses Better for Driving?

Sunglasses have long been not just a fashion detail, but an indispensable accessory in protecting one of the most sensitive organs in the human eye from UV and UVB sun rays.

There are conditions that make driving tedious. Glare caused by low sunlight or intense light reflected from snow, in puddles, or on the hood of a car is often cited as the cause of traffic accidents. The right glasses help you stay focused and can save your life. To protect their eyes while driving, drivers often use goggles. The best are the polarizing goggles, which allow you to drive at any time, day or night.

Sunglasses with polarized lenses are recommended for anyone who goes on a long trip and wears contact lenses, professional drivers, those who spend a long time in the snow or by the water (sailing, fishing, and so on).

Drivers face different challenges while driving – UV radiation, strong sunlight, and driving in different weather conditions that significantly affect the quality of driving. That is why the choice of sunglasses is important. Polarized sunglasses have a special filter in which light is scattered and visibility is improved. While driving a car, polarized sunglasses can reduce glare on the road surface, a reflection of the hood, and other surfaces of the car.

What are polarized glasses?

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Polarized lenses transmit only positive vertical waves of light. Looking through them, the vision is pleasant, contrasting, and without an unpleasant glare. The horizontal beam of light rays absorbs a polarizing filter that provides protection from the sun, a high degree of visual acuity, a significant reduction in eye fatigue, and excellent color perception. This is exactly what makes them comfortable and useful to wear. They also reduce eye strain, increase the quality of vision, and provide extra protection to our eyes.

The reasons why we wear sunglasses are reflections that come from horizontal surfaces, such as flat asphalt surfaces or water surfaces. When light strikes a surface, the reflected rays are polarized so that they coincide with the angle of that surface, so that a horizontal surface with a high degree of reflection will produce a lot of horizontally polarized light (e.g. sea, lake). Therefore, the polarizing lenses in the sunglasses are fixed at an angle that allows only vertically polarized light to pass.

How to choose the right sunglasses for me?

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The first and most important thing to pay attention to is protection against UV radiation. It is recommended that you always choose those with 100% protection. Many people think that the darker the glass, the better it protects against harmful UV rays, which is not true. Polarized sunglasses improve the quality of the image you see and at the same time protect your eyes from harmful UV rays. Polarized lenses eliminate sun glare from a flat surface. The glare that makes you squeeze and strain your eyes is the light that travels on the horizontal plane.

Keep in mind that glasses are an accessory that can damage your eyesight if they are of poor quality, or that it does you more harm than good. For this reason, do not buy cheap, or those of dubious quality. See more at Otticait.com.

Be sure to check the certificate that each pair of sunglasses should have before buying. The fact that the glasses are dark does not mean that they protect better from UV radiation. Namely, solar radiation blocks the material itself and the coating is colorless.

Polarized lenses can be very useful for those with a more active outdoor lifestyle or those who spend a lot of time outside. These lenses have a unique filter that blocks the intense glare caused by light reflection.

How to make the best choice?

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The best glasses are the ones that perfectly suit your face shape and personal style, but also the ones that you personally like the most. Of course, if they have 100% protection from UV radiation. In addition to choosing glasses according to the shape of the face, you must know that the health condition of your eyes as well as the purpose of the glasses before even choosing them.

When buying glasses, it is best to consult a professional (optician) who will know best how to recommend the glasses that are most suitable for you. Keep in mind that it is much more dangerous to wear bad sunglasses than not to wear them at all. Poor quality sunglasses damage our vision primarily because our eyes are further strained through low-quality glasses, and the sun’s rays penetrate freely through such glasses damaging the surface as well as the deeper structures of the eye, lens, and macula. Quality sunglasses are definitely something worth investing in because the eye is your greatest treasure and needs to be taken care of.

Driving is mostly an automatic process that we don’t even think about too much. Based on the many fatal accidents each year, it’s important to be aware that every time you sit behind the wheel of a vehicle, your eyes take on a great deal of responsibility. Wet, reflective roads, as well as blinding sun, can reduce your ability to see. Polarized glasses can help in situations like this.

Final thoughts

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What many don’t know is that glasses have their own shelf life. Even with the most expensive models, it is recommended to replace the glass every two years, because after that time they lose their original protection from UV rays and the eye is no longer protected from the sun.

When buying sunglasses, we must take into account three things: the quality of the UV filter, the optical accuracy of the lens, which is usually rounded due to new trends in large frames, and the color of the lens. Polarized sunglasses are the best choice because the polar filter removes reflected light rays and removes reflections from surfaces such as water, glass, or plastic which is ideal when driving.