First and foremost, night blindness is a real thing. However, true night blindness is caused by pretty significant eye diseases that affect the retina and or the optic nerve. These include advanced glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa.
It is unlikely that the majority of people are suffering from true night blindness. There are 3 common causes that make night driving difficult:
- You have a prescription that needs to be updated or you have a small prescription and need driving glasses. You usually do not notice this small change during the day because your pupil is smaller. The larger your pupil gets (dark environments) the more noticeable the change is.
- Another option is, you have cataracts and they are starting to interfere with vision. Again with a larger pupil the effect of the cataract is greater and you tend to get a lot of glare and halos when driving.
- Your current lenses in your glasses are old, scratched, or do not have the anti-glare coating. Anytime you put something in front of your eye, the amount of light entering is reduced. If you add dust, debris, or scratches this is exacerbated. New lenses with the crizal anti-glare coating maximize light entering the eye and reduce glare and halos.
So, all in all, you most likely do not have true night blindness, but an eye exam can let you know for sure and solve your night driving issues!