Question:
Well, I'm back from my first week out with my trainer. He's on the 7/7 program. Things went pretty good. He
said I was in the top ten list of the better students he had, but maybe he says that to all the trainees. I still see a lot of things I need to work on.
The fly in the ointment showed up when driving at night off of the interstates. I wasn't able to read the street
signs on my side of the truck, while my trainer could read street signs on both sides of the truck. I even slowed to crawl, and still could not make them out at night. I knew I had a harder time seeing at night in my car,
but I figured everybody else was seeing the same thing I was. Plus driving around familiar territory I seldom need to read the street signs. If I missed a turn, turning around or going around the block was no big deal. Driving a truck, this is a BIG DEAL. But it took driving the truck in unfamiliar areas with someone who could see the signs clearly to see how poor my night vision really is. Slowing the truck to a crawl in city traffic while sticking my head out the window to try to read the street signs just ain't safe and will just get other drivers pretty angry.
So, I guess my next step before I go on the road again is to see an eye doctor and find out if anything can be
done. I talked to my folks about this, and found out that they all have had problems with their night vision. When I was in my twenties, I flashburned my eyes while welding and damaged my corneas, but I would have figured that would have healed up. I passed my DOT eye exam. I'm 50 and wear tri-focals.
Any advice or comments out there?

Answer:
Get your eyes chacked out.
If you can still safely drive at night, dont give up just because you cant see street signs.
I know my night vision isnt what it used to be, it doesnt seem as bad as yours though. I do a good deal of driving at night going to unfamiliar places. You are right, the worst feeling you can have is that feeling you get right after you miss your turn pulling a 53 and you have no idea where youre headed now. I carry a 1000000 candlepower handheld light and Im not affraid to use it. Im also not afraid to slowdown and flip on a turn signal or flashers even if Im not sure Im at my turn or not, it sure beats trying to find a place to turn around.
The four wheelers behind you, getting a little frustrated because you're driving slow would be really frustrated if they had to wait on you to get turned around somewhere, so they may not know it, but you are doing them a favor.

Answer:
Not being able to read street signs is a very bad thing that can lead to very bad things happening. If you can't get it fixed you might better look into another career. Missing your turns and then trying to turn around or seeing your turn at the last minute and attempting to make a sharp fast turn to avoid missing it are accidents waiting to happen. Your odds of having an accident as a truck driver are fairly high to begin with and you don't want to make it worse. Your also not doing anyone a favor by going at a crawl in high traffic areas trying to read street signs. Your actually causing alot of traffic problems that can lead to over anxious pizzed off 4-wheelers who themselves become dangerous. You can't expect others to make way and have patience because you have a physical problem making it hard to do your job. Especially not when your driving a truck.
There are lots of families on the road, mine included, and I don't want to see bad things happen to other people when it's not their fault. Especially if I knew it was my fault and I could stop it from happening with a little common sense.

Answer:
A large screen laptop with Streets and Trips with GPS running will tell you what street to turn on and will give you a verbal warning at .2 to .3 miles plus written directions and warnings.

Answer:
Well, thanks for the advice folks. While a laptop and GPS would be helpful, I think the safest thing for me and the other people out there on the road is to get my eyes checked out by the Doc. I don't know what if anything can be done. It's frustrating...but I don't want to be the cause for someone getting hurt out there.
I got an appt this week with the Doc, and I notified dispatch of the situation. Dispatch was really understanding and agreed with my decision. They said we'll just take things one step at a time and see where we go from there.

Answer:
Rock n Roll....... Stillday !
Get yer eyes checked and glass's if need be and you will be just fine
Good Luck !
Answer:
ok
1) from what i've heard, "flash burning" your cornias will never heal.
2) silly sounding question, what collor are your eyes? fact, lighter colered eyes are more sensitive to ligh! which means the reflected light from street signs tends to blur, bright sunlight tends to hurt, but on darker night you can see better.
if you have lighter colored eyes (blue, grey, paler green (like mine)) talk to your eye docter about anti-glare coatings on any eyeglasses you may be wearing (You never mentioned if you were)

Answer:
Well....I'm sure you've considered the obvious. But if you haven't updated your vision precscrption in a couple years, you just might need new glasses.
I passed my first two CDL and DOT vision tests without glasses, but couldn't see a thing at night. It never bothered me driving a car in familiar territory, and when I had to navigate by signage, I could still make a last minute reactions better with a small vehicle.
First time in a big truck I realized I couldn't read signs soon enough to change lanes, etc. So I went out and got my first pair of glasses BEFORE the tests said I needed them. What a difference.
I still passed two more CDL renewals without my glasses, keeping the vision restriction off my credentials, although I'd never drive without them, day or night. When I finally wasn't able to read the bitty letters two years ago, I had to pull out my glasses to pass the test. I also have some wierd thing where one eye is much more nearsighted and the other is more far sighted.... ...which causes wierd blurring distortions...
But the glasses, which I renew every year, give me virtually perfect vision. I hadn't actually seen all those individual stars in the sky since probably my twenties, but never realized what I was missing.
Anyway...long story gets me back to my point. Vision changes sneak up on us, and may be complicated by different changes in each eye. if you're judging your glasses as sufficient because you passed the vision test -- join Mister Magoo and the rest of us.
Here's hoping a new prescription will fix the problem.

Answer:

I had Lasik surgery many years back. And like many people with lighter colored eyes, the diameter of the oblation area is smaller than the diameter of the fully dilated cornea and iris.
This means that at night, I have worse vision than normal. I get a blur around lights, almost like you were looking through a steamed up windshield. My vision during the day is good. I passed the DOT vision test easily also ... no big deal ... the charts only measure your ability to make out square shapes in high contrast with good lighting. The test is obsolete and outdated, and will someday probably be replaced with something tougher ... just as they have gotten tougher on checking blood pressure.
There are several things that have allowed me to be successful driving at night. One is that I use GPS, and ALWAYS have a good route before I start driving. This means that I never have to look for street names on signs ... those signs are hard to read for anyone, and sometimes nonexistent. If I cannot find the street on the map computerized map, using the address and directions, then I call for clarification. Absolutely hate the "seek and ye shall find" directions given by a lot of trucking companies. "Go past the 7-eleven, then over a hill and turn left. You can't miss it"
Another thing I have found is that your eyes adjust. If you drive at night often, they seem to adjust so that you can see better. When i first began driving a truck, I got headaches and my eyes were very tired. Afer a few weeks, my eyes began to adjust, they did not get tired, and it seems that my night vision improved also.
And I also wear dark polarized sunglasses. All day, every day. Unless there are storm clouds, i have them on during daylight hours. This not only helps protect my eyes from the sun, but also seems to help my night vision.
And of course .... although you cannot do it all the time, you can to some degree avoid driving at night. Just start your pretrip at 7am every day, then you can tell your dispatcher you are out of hours after it gets dark. This is perfectly legal
It is hard for us on a message board to get a feel for exactly how bad your eyes are at night ... Can you see stop signs, and traffic lights? Those are the important ones .... if you cannot make these out then you have made the right choice by not driving. Even then, you may find a company that will put up with you and let you drive only during daylight.

Answer:
I had a lot of problems with night driving when I first started on the road.All the advice given so far is good.The following is what helped me.
Trip to the eye doctor & a new pair of glasses.Although my eyes had not changed my old glasses were scratched so bad that it effected my vision.A new pair helped 100 percent.
Changed the headlights in my truck.I switched to silverstar headlights.They're a little brighter than the standard lights and have a wider beam pattern.
The last thing is you may have to just get used to night driving.Most people drive very little at night & are not comfortable with it.I have noticed that I don't mind driving at night now as much as I did a year ago.