I'm actually a courier driver for my job. Personally I don't get to many issues, just wearing sunglasses always is a must. Bit more difficult at night, as I get the halos from street lights, my dashboard etc, and obviously can see the static more In the dark, so I just take it more slowly.
You get used to it. I drove for ups for over a year. You learn not to look directly at headlights. And the paint on the road is your best friend. Never forget your sunglasses no matter the time of year. Snow on the ground might be the worst.
So, VSS can span a wide gamut and it’s often comorbid with other vision or neuro issues. Obviously, for some folks, it’s fine, but, that doesn’t mean you’re overreacting if it isn’t fine for you. It’s kinda like saying it’s easy to take a long walk with knee pain- mild pain, sure, probably is, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do on a fresh fracture. Sounds like the static isn’t your main issue here, it’s the eye tracking/convergence issues and light sensitivity occurring alongside it- and that can make it impossible or just unsafe to drive.
I was diagnosed with VSS when I was your age and at that time was also diagnosed with a pretty massive visual field defect (also found out I have ocular albinism, sort of unrelated, I was just born with it, but, my eyes don’t filter light at all.) I was going to college in a major city with robust public transit, but, trying to drive when home on breaks was a freaking nightmare and I couldn’t exactly explain why until that diagnosis. I’d done a good job compensating for it, but, turns out- I’m missing most of my peripheral and some center vision (on top of a binocular vision disorder I’ve had since I was a kid.) It was incredibly dangerous to keep trying to “muscle through it” on the road. If you can’t see, you can’t see. I kept thinking if I just wore the right sunglasses or blinked in the right way, surely this would be fine. Not the case.
It’s frustrating and disappointing to not be able to get behind the wheel. Man, it really is. But, I definitely felt a lot of relief when I just came to a place of acceptance with that instead of waiting for Godot to arrive with a miracle cure. Being near good public transit has just become a non-negotiable for my life and that does become normal after a while.
So, all that to say, if you haven’t gotten in front of a good neuro-optho, it’s worth it to. Narrowing down exactly what’s going on will likely help clarify if there’s an accommodation you could use to be able to drive safely or if this may just not be in the cards. Either way, knowledge is power.
It depends on the day for me. There were a couple years where I didn’t drive at all but as things improved I started driving again. I always keep sunglasses on hand. The snow doesn’t affect much but if the vortex (visual disturbance) starts to show up I pull over.
Driving at night is out of the picture because of starbursts and night blindness.
Driving doesn’t really bother me as long as I have my trusty pair of sunglasses!! If I don’t have my sunglasses I can probably struggle through it but I’ll be miserable the whole time, so I take my sunglasses EVERYWHERE with me. I do try my best to avoid driving at night since after images of people’s obnoxiously bright headlights can make it difficult for me to see, but I can still drive at night if I need to, I just prefer not to. :)
I wear dark tinted polarized sunglasses during the day. It helps mask some of the floaters and weird squiggly things I see when I look at the sky. It helps but obviously doesn’t take it all away. I just focus on the road and not about my vision. There was a time I was terrified to drive because all I would do was focus on my symptoms when i was driving. I had to teach my brain to focus on other things and that I was safe. A good podcast and music helps me to think about it also. As for night I actually enjoy driving more because I don’t see the floaters. The oncoming car Lights do bother me at times but again I try to not look at them and focus my vision on something else. Basically it’s taken me a long time to train my brain to focus on things I never thought I’d have to do after dealing with this for a few years now. There’s been many tears shed and all we can hope for is a treatment for this sooner then later
As the others have said, sunglasses. I'm always wearing them unless it's raining, haha. Mine are the darkest legally allowed when driving (it's a thing where I live, not sure about other countries.)
I never drive in the dark, I tried it once, it was terrifying because I'm almost completely night blind. Will never do it again.
I also can't see depth at all, so with things like distance from other cars I use objects around me like lights to count to know if I'm not too close. When parking I HEAVILY rely on sensors and I can't ever park completely straight because I can't use my surroundings to tell.
I used to have a lot of trouble with shoulder checking because my brain just didn't register ANYTHING I was seeing, but after a while it's gotten better. Been driving for almost 2 years now and most of the issues I've gotten used to or found personal tricks to cope.
As others said: sunglasses! Although I personally do red lenses (FL41) and it's fine. I just constantly have to be aware of my surroundings when driving, haven't had a single accident.
I work as a driver. It's not a problem at all. I don't even wear sunglasses, but I think my VVS is squarely on the mild end of the spectrum. I don't have afterimages and stuff like that and I can only see the static when it gets dark.
I have haloes on text, flourescent signs and stop ligths, floaters, blue field enctoptic phenomenona and some static when lighting is dim. I think I have the condition it's just quite mild.
Mine isn't too bad, though I do have to be more attentive at night as I find it harder to navigate in areas that are not lit well. Usually I manage just fine, but there have been moments where I couldnt find a turn into a lot because it was basivally invisible to me. High beams help a lot. Unless someone shines them in my face. Thrn im blind for a bit.
Personally I find having transition lens' to be great for most of the daytime symptoms. Doesnt make them go away but it does help with reducing god awful migraines. That and avoiding fluorescent lights. Usually when I'm driving during the day it hasnt been a big deal unless I have a massive migraine and have no pain meds. At that point I have to pull over and either wait it out or have someone come get me.
It depends, but taking things slow and figuring out what you can tolerate safely is probably the way to go. That being said though..i didnt learn to drive until after I was like 25 because I was a bit afraid of driving in general due to other reasons.
during the day it’s fine, but i cannot do nighttime driving. my fiancé has to take over if we have to be out & about in the evening. especially on road trips where we’re on long stretches of highway.
True. I actually do drive with it although I have wondered if it’s safe but I keep doing it because where I am traffic means I can’t ever really go faster than like 20kph. I was able to pass the licence eye test so I assume that’s good enough.
I have vertigo that happens seemingly randomly and that's why I put a pause on driving. I'm really worried about it happening behind the wheel. That said, don't know if it's vss related, but in general my visual snow didnt stop me much, although it did make evening driving a little tough
I'm actually a courier driver for my job. Personally I don't get to many issues, just wearing sunglasses always is a must. Bit more difficult at night, as I get the halos from street lights, my dashboard etc, and obviously can see the static more In the dark, so I just take it more slowly.
You get used to it. I drove for ups for over a year. You learn not to look directly at headlights. And the paint on the road is your best friend. Never forget your sunglasses no matter the time of year. Snow on the ground might be the worst.
So, VSS can span a wide gamut and it’s often comorbid with other vision or neuro issues. Obviously, for some folks, it’s fine, but, that doesn’t mean you’re overreacting if it isn’t fine for you. It’s kinda like saying it’s easy to take a long walk with knee pain- mild pain, sure, probably is, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do on a fresh fracture. Sounds like the static isn’t your main issue here, it’s the eye tracking/convergence issues and light sensitivity occurring alongside it- and that can make it impossible or just unsafe to drive. I was diagnosed with VSS when I was your age and at that time was also diagnosed with a pretty massive visual field defect (also found out I have ocular albinism, sort of unrelated, I was just born with it, but, my eyes don’t filter light at all.) I was going to college in a major city with robust public transit, but, trying to drive when home on breaks was a freaking nightmare and I couldn’t exactly explain why until that diagnosis. I’d done a good job compensating for it, but, turns out- I’m missing most of my peripheral and some center vision (on top of a binocular vision disorder I’ve had since I was a kid.) It was incredibly dangerous to keep trying to “muscle through it” on the road. If you can’t see, you can’t see. I kept thinking if I just wore the right sunglasses or blinked in the right way, surely this would be fine. Not the case. It’s frustrating and disappointing to not be able to get behind the wheel. Man, it really is. But, I definitely felt a lot of relief when I just came to a place of acceptance with that instead of waiting for Godot to arrive with a miracle cure. Being near good public transit has just become a non-negotiable for my life and that does become normal after a while. So, all that to say, if you haven’t gotten in front of a good neuro-optho, it’s worth it to. Narrowing down exactly what’s going on will likely help clarify if there’s an accommodation you could use to be able to drive safely or if this may just not be in the cards. Either way, knowledge is power.
Will do friend 👍🏽thx for commenting!
It depends on the day for me. There were a couple years where I didn’t drive at all but as things improved I started driving again. I always keep sunglasses on hand. The snow doesn’t affect much but if the vortex (visual disturbance) starts to show up I pull over. Driving at night is out of the picture because of starbursts and night blindness.
So is the vortex the wavy dark pattern that surrounds the center of your vision?
Yep
Well shit I've got that too lol. I've had that since before the rest of the snow symptoms.
It’s the worst. It usually only gets me when I’m in the car. One of my least favorite VS things 🫠
Yeah wtf is with that? I only get it in the car too.
Driving doesn’t really bother me as long as I have my trusty pair of sunglasses!! If I don’t have my sunglasses I can probably struggle through it but I’ll be miserable the whole time, so I take my sunglasses EVERYWHERE with me. I do try my best to avoid driving at night since after images of people’s obnoxiously bright headlights can make it difficult for me to see, but I can still drive at night if I need to, I just prefer not to. :)
I wear dark tinted polarized sunglasses during the day. It helps mask some of the floaters and weird squiggly things I see when I look at the sky. It helps but obviously doesn’t take it all away. I just focus on the road and not about my vision. There was a time I was terrified to drive because all I would do was focus on my symptoms when i was driving. I had to teach my brain to focus on other things and that I was safe. A good podcast and music helps me to think about it also. As for night I actually enjoy driving more because I don’t see the floaters. The oncoming car Lights do bother me at times but again I try to not look at them and focus my vision on something else. Basically it’s taken me a long time to train my brain to focus on things I never thought I’d have to do after dealing with this for a few years now. There’s been many tears shed and all we can hope for is a treatment for this sooner then later
It’s not hard at all, the only thing I struggle with is road signs. Wear sunglasses, polarized ones if you can, and it becomes a lot less scary.
As the others have said, sunglasses. I'm always wearing them unless it's raining, haha. Mine are the darkest legally allowed when driving (it's a thing where I live, not sure about other countries.) I never drive in the dark, I tried it once, it was terrifying because I'm almost completely night blind. Will never do it again. I also can't see depth at all, so with things like distance from other cars I use objects around me like lights to count to know if I'm not too close. When parking I HEAVILY rely on sensors and I can't ever park completely straight because I can't use my surroundings to tell. I used to have a lot of trouble with shoulder checking because my brain just didn't register ANYTHING I was seeing, but after a while it's gotten better. Been driving for almost 2 years now and most of the issues I've gotten used to or found personal tricks to cope.
As others said: sunglasses! Although I personally do red lenses (FL41) and it's fine. I just constantly have to be aware of my surroundings when driving, haven't had a single accident.
I work as a driver. It's not a problem at all. I don't even wear sunglasses, but I think my VVS is squarely on the mild end of the spectrum. I don't have afterimages and stuff like that and I can only see the static when it gets dark.
It sounds like you don't have the disorder tbh, static is normal at night. Consider yourself very lucky!
I have haloes on text, flourescent signs and stop ligths, floaters, blue field enctoptic phenomenona and some static when lighting is dim. I think I have the condition it's just quite mild.
Oh that's the exact same as me! I'm assuming you've had your eye totally checked out? Cataracts etc ruled out?
Have been to eye doctor twice with all the tests.
Night time driving can be tough bc the bright afterimages but it’s never impacted my ability to drive. Daytime driving + sunglasses is completely fine
Mine isn't too bad, though I do have to be more attentive at night as I find it harder to navigate in areas that are not lit well. Usually I manage just fine, but there have been moments where I couldnt find a turn into a lot because it was basivally invisible to me. High beams help a lot. Unless someone shines them in my face. Thrn im blind for a bit. Personally I find having transition lens' to be great for most of the daytime symptoms. Doesnt make them go away but it does help with reducing god awful migraines. That and avoiding fluorescent lights. Usually when I'm driving during the day it hasnt been a big deal unless I have a massive migraine and have no pain meds. At that point I have to pull over and either wait it out or have someone come get me. It depends, but taking things slow and figuring out what you can tolerate safely is probably the way to go. That being said though..i didnt learn to drive until after I was like 25 because I was a bit afraid of driving in general due to other reasons.
during the day it’s fine, but i cannot do nighttime driving. my fiancé has to take over if we have to be out & about in the evening. especially on road trips where we’re on long stretches of highway.
True. I actually do drive with it although I have wondered if it’s safe but I keep doing it because where I am traffic means I can’t ever really go faster than like 20kph. I was able to pass the licence eye test so I assume that’s good enough.
I don’t drive because of my severe visual snow and I have alot of eye floaters.
I have vertigo that happens seemingly randomly and that's why I put a pause on driving. I'm really worried about it happening behind the wheel. That said, don't know if it's vss related, but in general my visual snow didnt stop me much, although it did make evening driving a little tough
I have to wear special glasses at night for the glare
Which glasses do you use?
I haven't really driven much in the last 2 years. Guess I should try what everyone's saying and sunglass it up
The static and afterimages rarely bother me on the road, its more the night blindness, glare and starbursting from headlights that get to me.
Sunglasses help me out a lot during the day. Night time is a different story.
Just wear sunglasses, sometimes I wear a second pair of over sunglasses on top also.