Safety Tips For Night Driving

Driving a car is easy enough, but the task becomes a bit more challenging than usual when you’re driving after sundown. With night driving, you have to deal with the reduced visibility and the added difficulty of judging distance and speed in the dark. Add that to the fact that driving at night usually means you’ve had a full day and you’re likely exhausted, makes night driving inherently more dangerous.

However, since night driving is necessary for most of us, the best that we can do is to try to be as safe as possible. Here are some tips that will help you do just that.

Keep your dashboard lights dimmed – The glare of your car’s dashboard and instrument panel lights could compromise your forward vision. Turn down those lights a bit to make sure you can see the road in front of you more clearly.

Turn on your headlights – For some reason, some drivers don’t turn their headlights on even when it’s very dark. Your headlights must be on by twilight so you can see the road, and everyone else can see you.

Keep your car clean – Even a thumb-sized speck of dirt on your windshield can make you miss seeing objects on the road ahead. Always keep your windshield—and your entire car—clean at all times.

Keep your speed down – You may have your headlights on, but it’s still difficult to see what’s ahead of you at night. A person’s reaction time is also slower at night than during the day, so better slow down to lessen the risks of hitting anything on the road.

Be on the lookout for animals – Many animals come out by nightfall, so always scan the road ahead for any signs of critters crossing the road to avoid accidents.

Don’t text and drive – Texting while driving is risky enough during the day. Imagine how dangerous it would be at night.

Take a break – If you have a long night drive ahead of you, pull over and take breaks every now and then. You can stretch your legs, or even take a nap so you can replenish your energy and become more alert for the rest of your trip.

Take care of your eyes – Have your eyes checked regularly. According to the American Optometric Association, those under 40 should do it every three years, 40 to 60-year-olds every two years, and yearly for those who are past 60.

Take all these tips to heart, and your nighttime driving experience will likely be safer and uneventful, which is what all of us want.

Author Bio:
Michelle White currently works as the Marketing & Communications specialist at Law Offices of Brian Sloan. Her experiences with DUI cases in the past have inspired her to spread awareness about DUI laws in the United States.