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Honda Jazz Forums => Honda Jazz Mk3 2015 - 2020 => Topic started by: Ricardo on October 18, 2016, 11:22:55 PM

Title: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: Ricardo on October 18, 2016, 11:22:55 PM
We've been getting quite a lot of bright sunshine recently. Its great to see of course but the problem is that the sun is quite low in the sky at this time of year.
I find that I get a lot of reflection in the windscreen from the top of the dashboard and when I drive from bright sunlight into a shady area I temporarily lose sight of the road completely due to that dashboard reflecting in the screen.
Has anybody else noticed that? Its potentially very dangerous.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: mikebore on October 18, 2016, 11:34:13 PM
The worst situation is when the sun is coming through trees and the on-off of the reflection is like strobe lighting.

After trying non-reflective cloth and mats, I have settled on polarising clip-ons for my normal glasses.  The clip-on fits in the band on the sunvisor and easily fitted.

At least two long threads about this with various solutions.

In my experience the Mk 2 is the worst for this and Mk1 best (less raked screen), with the Mk3 in between.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: andruec on October 19, 2016, 10:31:03 AM
I've seen people reporting this before on the forum but have never experienced it in any Jazz I've owned. It suggests that it's driver position dependant. Are people suffering this unusually short or tall? Or sit very near/far from the steering wheel?
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: mikebore on October 19, 2016, 10:45:56 AM
I've seen people reporting this before on the forum but have never experienced it in any Jazz I've owned. It suggests that it's driver position dependant. Are people suffering this unusually short or tall? Or sit very near/far from the steering wheel?

I am 6 ft 1in and have the seat lowest position, but not fully back, but I don't think it is that critical. I remember being very surprised in the other threads that some people don't see/notice the problem.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: Ricardo on October 19, 2016, 11:01:15 AM
I'm average height I guess (about 5'8"-5'9") and I don't sit excessively close or far away from the steering wheel.
I had the previous model of Jazz and this was not an issue.
It must be a combination of the rake on the screen and either the size of the dashboard top or the finish on it.
I'll have a look for the other threads mentioned by mikebore, so thanks to everybody for adding their thoughts.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: guest1372 on October 19, 2016, 11:25:35 AM
I believe it is eyeball dependant, some people are able to hold a long focus without the short focus distraction.
Polarised lenses eliminate it, some people stick a sun glass lens in front of their dash cams to fix them as well.
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TG

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Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: andruec on October 19, 2016, 12:23:19 PM
Polarised lenses eliminate it, some people stick a sun glass lens in front of their dash cams to fix them as well.
I wonder if that could explain it. Most of the time I'm wearing prescription sunglasses. The only time I don't is when it's very dull or at night.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: mikebore on October 19, 2016, 12:31:32 PM
Polarised lenses eliminate it, some people stick a sun glass lens in front of their dash cams to fix them as well.
I wonder if that could explain it. Most of the time I'm wearing prescription sunglasses. The only time I don't is when it's very dull or at night.

Well it certainly would if your prescription sunglasses are polarised. Next Time it is sunny try with regular glasses?
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: jazzway on October 19, 2016, 01:28:48 PM
Polarised lenses eliminate it, some people stick a sun glass lens in front of their dash cams to fix them as well.
I wonder if that could explain it. Most of the time I'm wearing prescription sunglasses. The only time I don't is when it's very dull or at night.
I wonder if it's only with polarised sunglasses or anti-reflective glasses have the same effect? I am wearing glasses in the car all the time and although the sunglasses are polarized, my normal glasses are only anti-reflective. Or is it that same?
I read here before about the reflective dashboard problem but never experienced it myself. First i thought it was maybe because of a different process/coating of the different manufacturers - different countries the car is made.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: andruec on October 19, 2016, 01:43:36 PM
Polarised lenses eliminate it, some people stick a sun glass lens in front of their dash cams to fix them as well.
I wonder if that could explain it. Most of the time I'm wearing prescription sunglasses. The only time I don't is when it's very dull or at night.

Well it certainly would if your prescription sunglasses are polarised. Next Time it is sunny try with regular glasses?
I'm not sure if they are or not but I think not. They were bought with my normal glasses as a special offer so I assume they are just corrective lenses that have been tinted. My normal glasses have an anti-glare coating though so that would probably help as well.

Hmm. Apparently not (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-reflective_coating#Reflection):

"Antireflective ophthalmic lenses should not be confused with polarized lenses, which decrease (by absorption) the visible glare of sun reflected off surfaces such as sand, water, and roads. The term "antireflective" relates to the reflection from the surface of the lens itself, not the origin of the light that reaches the lens."

But I might have got polarised lenses for normal use as I vaguely recall someone saying it could help when playing golf.

Whaever - glasses use certainly seems a likely explanation now that you've mentioned it.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: mikebore on October 19, 2016, 02:06:56 PM
Polarised lenses eliminate it, some people stick a sun glass lens in front of their dash cams to fix them as well.
I wonder if that could explain it. Most of the time I'm wearing prescription sunglasses. The only time I don't is when it's very dull or at night.

Well it certainly would if your prescription sunglasses are polarised. Next Time it is sunny try with regular glasses?
I'm not sure if they are or not but I think not. They were bought with my normal glasses as a special offer so I assume they are just corrective lenses that have been tinted. My normal glasses have an anti-glare coating though so that would probably help as well.

It certainly seems a likely explanation now that you've mentioned it.

You can tell if your glasses are polarised by holding them in your hand and viewing any reflected light, off a piece of glass or water, roof of your car, (not a mirror). If they are polarised it will cut out nearly all the reflected light, and if you then rotate the glasses 90 degrees you will see the reflected light again.

Many sunglasses are polarised, but not all.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: Hobo on October 19, 2016, 03:01:15 PM
http://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=8019.0 (http://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=8019.0)

http://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=8049.0 (http://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=8049.0)
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: andruec on October 19, 2016, 03:07:53 PM
You can tell if your glasses are polarised by holding them in your hand and viewing any reflected light, off a piece of glass or water, roof of your car, (not a mirror). If they are polarised it will cut out nearly all the reflected light, and if you then rotate the glasses 90 degrees you will see the reflected light again.
Good point. Also thinking about it you can look at an LCD watch and the display should darken as you rotate it or the glasses. My normal glasses are not polarised according to the test I've just done but I remember being a bit irritated with my Mk2 because I couldn't read the climate control temperature display without tilting my head so it seems like they are.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: culzean on October 19, 2016, 05:05:29 PM
Some car displays look dark or smudgy when looked at through polarised glasses,  that is why I stopped wearing them in the car (on older cars with toughened windscreens (before laminated screens) you got the complete pattern of the heat treatment on the screen with polaroids, very distracting).   Polarising removes the glare from non-metallic surfaces (photographers use polarising filters to make colours appear deeper by removing glare,  they make sky and sea bluer and clouds whiter as well).

if you have two pairs of polarising sunglasses and rotate them so that lenses are parallel but at 90degrees to each other the lenses go completely black because all light has been stopped from passing through.

https://www.polarization.com/water/water.html (https://www.polarization.com/water/water.html)
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: Ed the Jazz on March 11, 2020, 10:19:33 PM
I bought a dash mat which is shaped to the dash top of my Mk3 Jazz and wont stop the passenger air bag. Used double sided tape to keep in position. Looks good and stops reflection in the screen. Has pre cut outs for vents and auto light sensor
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: sparky Paul on March 12, 2020, 08:52:39 AM
Interesting thread, I can't say I've ever noticed this, but I do wear glasses with coatings.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: Jocko on March 12, 2020, 09:05:59 AM
I have found a good layer of dust on top of the dashboard helps. But yes. The dashboard on my Mk 1 is a pig for reflections.
(https://i.imgur.com/zX9l4tV.jpg?1)
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: mikebore on March 12, 2020, 09:07:04 AM
Interesting thread, I can't say I've ever noticed this, but I do wear glasses with coatings.

I wear glasses with coatings too, but coatings on the glasses only reduce reflections off the surfaces of the glasses lenses themselves, not reflections off the dash, unless they are polarising. Unfortunately you can't get ordinary polarised glasses (only polarised sunglasses).

I am baffled how some people (like me) see this as a real problem in certain situations, and others never notice it.

Polarising clip-on sunglasses are the best and total solution for me.

It would be interesting for someone who doesn't notice the reflections to try polarising sunglasses and see if they see a difference.

Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: mikebore on March 12, 2020, 09:09:39 AM
I have found a good layer of dust on top of the dashboard helps. But yes. The dashboard on my Mk 1 is a pig for reflections.

We have a Mk1 and a Mk3, and previously had a Mk2.

The Mk1 is the best for this problem because it has the least sloping windscreen. The Mk2 is the worst, Mk3 slightly better than the Mk2.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: culzean on March 12, 2020, 09:16:46 AM
The reflections in MK2 Jazz are pretty bad,  the Civic is pretty much 100% reflection free. Just one thing on the Civic is that there is a very narrow vertical reflection near centre upper part of screen and first time I noticed it I thought I had a cracked screen, ran my hand across dash and it disappeared ( the crack, not the dash ) so I was happy...

The Nextbase dashcams 512GW and onwards have a built in polarizing filter,  but the downside is a bit less light into the camera at night - but hey-ho...

I have a pair of very light yellow sunglasses that I wear driving her indoors MK2, and some clip-on polarising filters if I need to wear my normal glasses ( normally only need glasses in low light and at night though,  so hardly get any use ).
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: Andyjm15 on March 12, 2020, 09:56:19 AM
I didn’t think the reflections in the Mk3 were particularly bad, until a combination of low sun and deep shade led to me not seeing a pedestrian at all until I saw them in my rear view mirror. It must have been very close and shook me up for several days. It’s the view from the driver seat to the near side kerb that’s severely compromised for me. I now realise it makes things virtually impossible to see.
Clip on polarised sun glasses solved the problem completely. I would not drive anywhere in sunlight without them now. The difference they make is extraordinary.
Title: Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
Post by: John Ratsey on March 12, 2020, 08:50:55 PM
I found the Mk. 3 Jazz to be better than the Mk. 2 in this respect but still had problems. I think it's to do with the  angle of the windscreen and position of the eyeballs as the problem is much reduced in my HR-V with a more vertical windscreen. While polarizing sunglasses substantially reduce the glare, I have to remember to put them on (they are flip-up clip-ons) at the start of each journey in potentially sunny conditions. I'm interested in the Mk. 4 Jazz but will want a test drive in sunny conditions to establish whether the reflection of the dashboard in the windscreen is still a problem for me.