unsure if i should wear glasses for driving when i learn

[arun100]

my eyesight is -1.00+1.25 and -0.25, do i need glasses when i learn to drive or not, im curious as i can read a 20 metre number plate therefore i mix up letters like Ms with Ws but otherwise i can still read it, just looking for reccomendations.

When you get them, you'll realise how much sharper and clearer everything is.

When I first got glasses my prescription was -0.5 -1.00 and wore my glasses all the time despite being told I needed them for driving and distance (eg watching tv).

i found it horrible taking them off and having blurry vision at times when just wearing them solved that issue.

im now -1.25 -2.75 +1.5 and wear varifocals and can’t see fuck all without them. 😂

if you’re worried about the wearing glasses you can always ask for a contact lens trial

Explains a lot about the general standard of driving these days though…😂

YES

When I first got distance glasses, I only wore them for driving (and left them in the car). Over time, my eyesight deteriorated, but instead of wearing glasses all the time, I wore contact lenses.

Then, as my eye sight changed due to age, I didn’t need to wear glasses at all.

Forty years after first getting them as a teenager, I’m back to just wearing glasses for driving.

What I’m trying to say is, it’s up to you whether you wear them all the time - just make sure you’re wearing them when you’re driving.

If you need glasses you need glasses. There isn’t a threshold of when your sight tips into being bad enough to need them. Your insurance would be void if you had an accident and weren’t wearing the correct prescription.

Its up to you what you do the rest of the time but I’d be taking advice from an optician if I were you.

Ask your optician if your sight meets the driving requirements without glasses. But if you feel you don't see well enough use your glasses anyway, nothing to lose by using them.

Its your choice whether you wear glasses all the time or not. For driving its a legal requirement so not your choice

If you don’t wear your glasses
all the time all that happens is your eyesight deteriorates faster and you won’t be asking if you need them or not as you won’t be able to see anything without them!

I wear my glasses just for driving I keep them in the car. My blurred vision is barely noticeable during the day but my glasses make a huge difference to my night driving. They are expensive so I would rather not risk them getting broken from using them outside of the car.

Yes, if you feel like you need them. I wear mine most of the time as everything goes blurry when I take them off, despite it not being a strong prescription. I don’t like how long it takes my eyes to readjust to not having them on. If I don’t put them on first thing in the morning though, I’ll manage fine without them for a few hours (but obviously just around the house and not on the road). Please wear glasses to drive.

I would be inclined to wear contact lenses rather than glasses. Glasses mean you have to turn your head more when looking over your shoulder to reverse (etc.)
contact lenses allow your (corrected) vision to be improved all around, making driving easier.

Surely it's up to you whether you need them for anything other than driving. My husband wears glasses for driving. Has done for 30+ years. He will mostly wear them when watching TV, but sometimes doesn't bother. He doesn't walk around with them on. Similarly I wear reading glasses. I have them on now, but occasionally I'll pick my phone up to read a text, get a phone number, ring the dentist and I can make out the letters /words /numbers well enough for that without my glasses, but wouldn't trust myself to e.g. Read the allergen information on a packet reliably without them.

A former colleague of mine used to wear glasses only for driving. Then one day she admitted she could barely spot an emergency exit door in the office without them. She had been walking around half blind for years! So now she wears them all the time.

I will never understand why people don't want to be able to see? The technology exists to allow you to have perfect vision.

If you broke your leg would you just say oh well guess I will not move off the settee? Or would you use a wheelchair and crutches?

@arun100 don't you talk to your optician?

No don't bother, you'll be fine causing accidents, just tell the police you don't like wearing your glasses whilst driving. I'm sure they'll understand. And reading number plates, that's not important right!

Your optician is the only person who can answer that.

I asked the optician if I was still ok to drive without glass some years ago.

The response:
’just’

I was bloody appalled, why were they not flagging up I was on the cusp and “strongly advising” me to wear them as at some point prior to my next appointment I would likely slip into needing to wear them legally.

🤬

Thank goodness I did ask!

You can make a judgement on whether you want to wear them when you aren’t driving but when you in charge of a 2 tonne lump of metal, we’d all prefer it if you erred on the side of caution 😂

You can’t read a number plate at 20 feet without them so need them for driving. Mixing up letters is getting it wrong.

I wear glasses for driving, when I'm at work, the cinema etc, but I don't wear them when I'm reading or walking around, cooking etc. If you feel you don't need them for anything other than driving that's fine, but if your optician says you do need them for driving, then wear them!

What is the issue with wearing glasses for both driving and non driving purposes? If it's a vanity issue then wear contact lenses. Your choice is not wear eye corrective lenses or risk killing someone which is worse do you think?

I had pretty much the same prescription when I learnt (now a bit worse). Wear your glasses.

Also you need to make sure you can see the road in front of you and be able to see the speedometer etc. I need varifocals for this.

@arun100
Do you have prescription glasses or not?
If you have prescription glasses what were they prescribed for?
How long ago they were prescribed?
Did you mention driving when you were prescribed your glasses?
When did you have the last eye test?