Author Topic: Reflection causes loss of sight of road  (Read 7368 times)

Ricardo

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Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« 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.

mikebore

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #1 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.

andruec

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #2 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?

mikebore

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #3 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.

Ricardo

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #4 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.

guest1372

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #5 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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andruec

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #6 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.

mikebore

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #7 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?

jazzway

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #8 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.

andruec

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #9 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:

"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.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2016, 02:02:18 PM by andruec »

mikebore

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #10 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.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2016, 02:10:42 PM by mikebore »

Hobo

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andruec

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #12 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.

culzean

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #13 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
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Ed the Jazz

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Re: Reflection causes loss of sight of road
« Reply #14 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

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