Dash mat recommendations

[Synchrotron]

Hi all,

I know there are several forum posts about this, but most are quite old, and the links no longer work.

Like many others, I am struggling with the reflections caused by the dashboard onto the windscreen when driving in sunny weather. It hasn't been as bad over the summer, when I could wear my polarised sunglasses, but now that the angle of the sun is getting lower, and I have to wear different glasses (prescription, they darken in response to sunlight, but they aren't polarised) the glare is getting very distracting. I have a very long commute that overlaps with sunrise and sunset through much of the autumn and spring, so lots of low-angle, uncomfortable sun glare.

I was wondering whether you might have any recent recommendations for a dash mat, ideally a non-adhesive one. Alternatively, whether you use a product to render the dash plastic matt, and whether this completely eliminates this issue (older posts seem to have mixed opinions on this approach).

Thanks in advance!

[nowster]

You could get a sticky silicone pad, like they use for food trays when you don't want the plates to slide around (eg. on ships).

Also, photochromic lenses aren't recommended for driving and might not be legal to use.

For driving I have clip-on flip-up polarised lenses for my glasses. I often use them in low sun conditions even in winter.

[Marco1979]

Photochromatic glasses respond to the UV part of the spectrum. When you are indoors or in a car, most of the UV will be absorbed by the windscreen (which has a UV reflecting coating to keep heat out, as do window panes). So it will not do much to prevent glare.

You could try a black towel to see if it makes some difference. You can easily mould it over your dash and specifically cover the parts that annoy you most. Or get Polaroid prescription glasses; very happy with mine! Good luck!

[Synchrotron]

Thank you both for the ideas!

My photochromic lenses are definitely legal for driving (I checked!). It is true that they don’t darken as much inside the car as they do outside, but for me that is just enough to take the edge off the worst of the glare when I’m driving around sunrise/sunset. In full daylight I wear (polarised) prescription sunglasses, and at nighttime the photochromic lenses stay fully clear. I just wanted to avoid fiddling with multiple pairs of glasses while driving at sunrise/sunset, which is what I used to do before (I would wear one pair on my head and one over my eyes and swap them when needed).

When I got my last prescription, I asked about clip-on options first, and I was told there were no suitable options for me, as I can only wear a narrow range of frames (my head is quite small!)

I will definitely do a little more digging when I next need to update my prescription, though.