With Easter holidays almost upon us, many Australians are looking forward to hitting the road; whether it is that long awaited holiday, visiting friends and family, or simply a change in scenery.
 
In 2021, OPSM commissioned research on Australian drivers and their vision and found that three quarters of Australian drivers planned a long road trip that year with an average time of four hours¹.

Despite this, more than 90% of regular Australian drivers did not consider their eye health before going on their journey¹. 
 
OPSM optometrist Kirby Phillips said: “Vision is our main source of information when driving, some studies state that up to 90% of the information acquired during driving have a visual nature”.

Good vision supports drivers to accurately perform driving related tasks and make safe decisions. The research found that weather conditions and time of day had a major impact on confidence, with more than 70% of Australians stating they had medium to low confidence in their vision when driving at night, this increased to 76% when raining¹.
 
“We know that common eye conditions such as shortsightedness and astigmatism, when left uncorrected, can influence our driving," Ms Phillips said.

"This can be worse at night due to our larger pupil size, allowing more light to enter the eye causing blurry vision and halos around lights.”

If you do need prescription glasses or sunglasses, OPSM has you covered with a 25% off* Lenses and Lens Extras when purchased as part of a complete pair of glasses between 18 March and 3 April 2024. To make an appointment, visit opsm.com.au
 
OPSM recommends that you schedule regular visits based on your eye health needs.

Exclusive OPSM offers for RACQ members

*When purchased as part of a complete pair (frame and lenses). Offer available for RACQ Members. Present your RACQ Membership card to redeem offer. Further T&Cs apply, see special offers on OPSM website for details. Offer available from 18/03/24 to 03/04/24.

¹ Data sourced from OPSM Driving and Eye Health 2021 Report.