Night Driving Warning

[sevbucmash]

There are cells in your eyes which control melatonin production - ipRGCs.
ipRGCs sense light --> send signal to brain --> brain controls melatonin. Penal gland produces melatonin for sleep.

Remember those annoying police lights.

During night driving, people with LED lights, people with bad throw, trucks, SUVs, lifted rides -- people with illegal headlights -- overload your visual sensory system. ipRGCs get overloaded due to very bright lights. When ipRGCs detect strong light, they send a "daytime" signal. Melatonin production drops, cortisol rises, alertness should increase.

But, there is a twist. You are already tired, and your visual system is already strained. Instead of waking you up, the sudden melatonin suppression creates a confused state. You're not fully wake, and not fully asleep, attention flickers, focus collapses.

You drive, and all of a sudden you feel like you ****ing going to fall asleep. You loose focus of the road. You don't drive straight. You can't control this state.

Because your visual cortex gets overwhelmed. Micro-sleep kicks in. Half a second, up to 3 seconds, you're out. This is beyond your control.

A) You will get this when driving nights.
B) Assume other people are in this state while driving at night.


To prevent this, wear sunglasses. Driving glasses might or might not help, depending on quality. Sunglasses are guaranteed help. Driving glasses are only good with clear lenses.


Now back to police lights. They are developed on the above science and they are designed to disorient you by overloading your visual senses. Why they so bright? So that you get stunned and your reaction slows.

That highway and city out there, with illegal LEDs, hat's like a lot of police cars.

 

[Travel memoir21]

There are cells in your eyes which control melatonin production - ipRGCs.
ipRGCs sense light --> send signal to brain --> brain controls melatonin. Penal gland produces melatonin for sleep.

Remember those annoying police lights.

During night driving, people with LED lights, people with bad throw, trucks, SUVs, lifted rides -- people with illegal headlights -- overload your visual sensory system. ipRGCs get overloaded due to very bright lights. When ipRGCs detect strong light, they send a "daytime" signal. Melatonin production drops, cortisol rises, alertness should increase.

But, there is a twist. You are already tired, and your visual system is already strained. Instead of waking you up, the sudden melatonin suppression creates a confused state. You're not fully wake, and not fully asleep, attention flickers, focus collapses.

You drive, and all of a sudden you feel like you ****ing going to fall asleep. You loose focus of the road. You don't drive straight. You can't control this state.

Because your visual cortex gets overwhelmed. Micro-sleep kicks in. Half a second, up to 3 seconds, you're out. This is beyond your control.

A) You will get this when driving nights.
B) Assume other people are in this state while driving at night.


To prevent this, wear sunglasses. Driving glasses might or might not help, depending on quality. Sunglasses are guaranteed help. Driving glasses are only good with clear lenses.


Now back to police lights. They are developed on the above science and they are designed to disorient you by overloading your visual senses. Why they so bright? So that you get stunned and your reaction slows.

That highway and city out there, with illegal LEDs, hat's like a lot of police cars.

I’m gonna try the sunglasses advise. I can’t wait to be driving again on US soil.

 

[sevbucmash]

You gotta wear them pre-emptively. If your eyes are already ****ed up at night, and you putting glasses on, it's too late.