Driving in the rain...a dubious piece of advise

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carson

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
Posts
4,919
Location
Florida, USA
Listed below is a short message I received from a neighbor..

 I have no comments at this time.  Wonder what you think.


  Worth a try?  




"Well folks, I've had this for about a week and wouldn't pass it on until we
tried it.  Believe it or not it works.  Hard to explain why but it
definitely helps.  We were driving home from Ocean City today in truly
horrendous rain - just slamming against the car, across the road, etc.  So I
pulled out my sunglasses and put them.  Then I told Ron to give it a try
because it works.  He did and agreed with me.  It seems to lessen the effect
of the road mist which helps with better vision.  The e-mail says your
vision is perfectly clear and we can't say we agree with that but it sure
helps.

Just give it a try - it's helpful.



Most motorists will turn on HIGH or FASTEST SPEED of the wipers
during heavy downpour, yet the visibility in front of the windshield is still bad.....
In the event you face such a situation, just try your SUN GLASSES
(any model will do). It?s a miracle!     All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your windshield is perfectly clear, as if there is no rain.     Make sure you
always have a pair of SUN GLASSES in your car, as you are not only helping
yourself to drive safely with good vision, but also might save
your friend's life by giving him this idea..   Try it yourself and share it with your friends!
Have a great day!!!!"


Is this an urban myth?  carson FL
 
It's possible that polarized lenses could help with visibility but the loss of light through sunglasses would be more of a detriment.  I wouldn't do it.  If it's raining so hard you're having trouble seeing the road it's time to find a spot to pull over and wait it out.
 
Polarized sunglasses would be a help in rain.   Reflection from the surface of water is polarized itself.  Polarized lenses will cut the glare considerably.  Fishermen have used polarized clip-ons for years for this purpose -- with them they can see bottom thru the sun glare off the surface.  

"All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your windshield is perfectly clear", however, has the smell of hyperbole.  The irregular sheeting of heavy rain down a windshield would optically distort your view, and no glasses will correct for that.  If I were to try the theory out, I would do it as a front seat passenger, NOT as a driver.  

Meanwhile polarized clip-ons I have discovered are a real help in normal daytime rain in cutting glare from the road surface.   Get a pair of flip-up clip-ons and give them a try.

In really heavy rain, Ned's advice is well taken.   Hydro-planing and running into flooded dips and blocked road drains are other problems with forging ahead in deluges.

 
It's actually kind of rare that I see a Snopes page like that one above that is still "research in progress".  Most forwards like that have been around for years and have much more historical data on their validity.  Looks like you're right on the cutting edge carson!  :)
 
Back when I used to help my uncle drive the 18 wheeler in Mexico, We would use the classic green RayBan sunglasses for heavy rain or fog. It definately improves vision. The difference in using them or not, would dictate weather make it to your destination alive or not (specially up in the mountains).
 
I used to have a pair of yellow sunglasses (Bono style), they did help in cloudy and raining conditions.  It made everything look sunny.  My dark amber polarized do help, but usually are too dark if it's not sunny or just lightly overcast.  If I could get a pair of yellow polarized glasses, then it may do the trick.
 
I will also add that it makes a difference if hte sunglasses are Polarized or not.

Polarized DO cut glare and thus make it easier to see in less than ideal conditions.

Non-Polarized,  Make it HARDER to see in less than ideal conditions.

All my sun glasses are Polarized,  Won't buy if if they are not.
 
I wouldn't consider wearing any of  my polarized prescription glasses at night or in low visibility.
 
[quote author=Carl L]Agreed but ain't they nice on the water on a sunny day.[/quote]

Absolutely, especially for this photophobic. I'm glad I took the advice of my optometrist some years ago.
 
Skiers wear amber goggles when it's cloudy because they enhance shadows, thereby making it easier to see moguls.

Our windshield wipers stopped working this summer and one day we encountered a driving rain with nowhere to stop safely.  We observed an interesting phenomenon during that downpour.  The water collected in the middle of the windshield and went off in rivulets to each side.  By moving our heads a little to the side we actually had decent visibility because the sides of the windshield were more clear than the middle.  At the time I had on my lightly tinted sunglasses (it had been sunny!) and they did help cut glare of the roadway and oncoming headlights so I left them on.  I don't think a heavy tint would have helped, however.

In case you're wondering our Smart Wheel stopped being smart in Michigan so we had no washers, wipers, cruise control, or courtesy lights until we could get to Oregon to have it repaired.  Luckily the weather gods were favorable most of the trip west!

ArdraF
 
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