Is BVD Causing my Night Driving to Worsen?

In an ideal world, both of our eyes would work in perfect synchronicity to create a single, clear image that we can see with absolute clarity. However, the reality is that many people suffer from the slightest misalignment of the eyes. This misalignment isn’t obvious enough to be able to tell just by looking at the position of your eyes. Nevertheless, when you look at an object, your eyes will be unable to pull the two separate images (one from each eye) into one single, clear image.


To try and compensate for this misalignment, the brain tries to force the muscles around the eyes to align them on a single plane. This puts them under a great deal of strain. Unfortunately, the successful realignment is only momentary before the eyes fall back into misalignment. This kick-starts the whole cycle over again, and the constant stress and strain placed on the eyes and the muscles around them begin to cause symptoms that we associate with binocular vision dysfunction. 


Binocular vision dysfunction (BVD) can affect any area of our life where we use our eyes and vision, including driving.

How does BVD affect our ability to drive?

Driving is an activity that requires an extreme level of visual demand because if you fail to pay appropriate attention, it could result in severe injury or even death. When we drive, our eyes are overwhelmed by stimuli – from other drivers, pedestrians, and other distractions. The faster we drive, the faster these visual stimuli come at us, and for people with binocular vision dysfunction, the speed of visual input can be completely overwhelming. As a result, it’s not unusual for people with BVD to experience levels of high stress and even panic attacks when they are driving, or even if they are simply a passenger in a moving vehicle.

Signs that BVD could be affecting your ability to drive

• You feel lightheaded and on the verge of passing out
   

• Passing cars seem too close
   

• You struggle to tell the distances between cars
   

• Driving around bends makes you feel disorientated
   

• You feel scared driving over bridges or alongside cliffs
   

• You’ve had panic attacks while driving
   

• You try and avoid driving on roads with multiple lanes or that are known for being busy or having lots of intersections
   

• You still feel like you are moving even after you’ve stopped
   

• Driving is very stressful, and you would rather just avoid it

Is BVD making it harder for me to drive at night?

Driving at night can be more difficult for many people, particularly as they get older. This is because as we age, our vision tends to gradually get worse, and this can be more of a problem at night when adjusting to low light levels, glare from other traffic and streetlights, and hidden hazards. If you have binocular vision dysfunction, this will only compound the other issues you have been experiencing and make them worse.


If you aren’t sure if you are affected by BVD but you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed here, particularly when it comes to driving at night, we strongly recommend that you take our free 5 minute self test here.


For more on binocular vision dysfunction or believe you are suffering from any of these symptoms, get relief now and take our Free 5 Minute Self Test to find out if you have BVD Here.