Driving Safely After Dark
With shorter days on the horizon, you can never be too careful while driving at night. This is especially true during rainy days or winter travel.
As the sun goes down and visibility reduces, it’s important to use precautions when you are behind the wheel.
Hazards of Night Driving
Driving at night is dangerous enough as your vision becomes impaired due to the dark. Stress, fatigue, and intoxication can be all too common in the wee hours of the night.
Sometimes letting another person drive is a good way to not only keep your car and its passengers safe, but others on the road safe as well.
Essential Night Driving Tips
Here are some crucial tips for safe driving at night:
- Avoid looking directly at oncoming headlights.
- Reduce any glare by using the day-night feature on your rearview mirror (sometimes accessed by a flip tab at the bottom of the mirror).
- Increase your car’s visibility by keeping headlights on 1 hour before dusk and 1 hour after dawn.
- Ensure all brake and signal lights are in working order.
- Give yourself greater distance from other vehicles – it’s harder to gauge distance at night.
- Keep your windshield clear and squeaky clean — have plenty of windshield spray cleaner in the tank.
- Don’t ignore eye fatigue – take breaks if needed.
- Keep in good visits with your optometrist.
- Be cautious of deer crossing the road.
- Clean your lights so they stay bright in the dark.
Stay Alert and Focused
Stay safe on the roadways at night by watching for warning signs and limiting any chance of anything happening to you or anyone else on the road.
you can’t see everything at night.
Put down your phone, turn down the radio, and remember that you can’t see everything at night.
