A recent study by TUV Rheinland has revealed that some European motorists resort to unsafe practices to avoid headlight glare from following vehicles at night. After polling 3,000 European drivers, they found that 5.1% of respondents from Germany, 5.4% from France and 9.2% from the United Kingdom were likely to resort to sunglasses in an effort to reduce that glare.
The study is being publicized, somewhat predictably, by a company specializing in auto-dimming rearview mirrors, which, we assume, reduce the need for nocturnal sunglass wearing. They point out that 71% of respondents who didn't already have auto-dimming mirrors were unaware that such things exist.
In addition to wearing sunglasses, other popular methods for combating glare include squinting (44% of respondents say they do this), blocking the glare with their hand (21.3%). Only 1.8% would block the glare with whatever they were holding at the time.
Jalopnik does not endorse nor suggest the wearing of sunglasses at night, no matter how cool they make you look. [Source: Gentex]