News Published on : 01-Nov-2021 17:02:43

Millions of motorists in the UK believe that they are more at risk of minor accidents and collisions in the winter months because to their own admission their driving gets worse in dark and wintery conditions - according to a new survey by MotorConnect.co.uk. With the clocks having now changed 33 per cent of drivers questioned claimed that their driving noticeably worsens between November and March because the dark difficult weather conditions and increased glare from headlights that makes them less confident behind the wheel. A quarter of drivers surveyed admitted to having previously been in a minor collision or bump in the winter months - 47 per cent of accidents were due in part to headlight glare 23% not being able to see objects properly in the dark and 17 per cent was due to glare from artificial lighting. Four out of ten of those surveyed claim that they avoid driving in the dark in winter if they can - 30 per cent have cancelled social plans because they did not want to drive and one in ten have been late for a night time event because they have taken a longer but more well-lit route. Commenting on the findings and offering advice for better vision when driving in the dark Dr Andy Hepworth - vision expert from Essilor said: Winter can bring some pretty challenging driving conditions and it s no surprise that people are lacking in confidence - however it is crucial that everyone stays safe. To hear that people think their driving worsens is quite alarming but there are factors at play with our eyesight which explain this. Quite simply our vision is not adapted to night-time driving environments and eye sensitivity is different in the daytime than at night. Therefore driving in the dark we are exposed to multiple and intense sources of light that create reflections and glare the impact on vision is difficulty in adapting reduced peripheral vision decreased contrast sensitivity increased response time difficulties in motion perception and navigation issues.