This blog often covers potential hazards and tips on safely driving your vehicle. One of the most dangerous and difficult times to drive your vehicle is at night. The dark or lack of light is one of the most commonly seen or unseen hazards on the roadway. With the hours of the day becoming shorter it is important to know how to drive in the dark. In this week’s blog, we will cover 5 tips for driving at night.
Plan accordingly: It is important to know if you will be driving in the dark. This can not always be known, but it is a good thing to keep in mind when planning travel. Prepare yourself for the lack of light and potential desire to nod off, and prepare your vehicle.
Use your lights properly: Using your headlights is not only the law, it is also crucial to use. In Illinois, headlights are required to be on from dusk until dawn. When getting into your vehicle or a new vehicle, ensure that you know where and how the headlight controls work and if all of your headlights are in working order. Having your headlights on allows the road in front of you to be illuminated allowing you to see. It also allows other drivers to see you. To gain more visibility you can turn on your high beams. Be sure to turn your high beams to your low beams if you are in an urban area, an oncoming vehicle is within 500 feet, or you are following a vehicle at less than 300 feet.
Stay awake: Drowsy driving and the dangers of driving while tired have been covered in earlier blogs, but the dangers of falling asleep at the wheel are even more present at night. If you feel tired or like you may become tired, do not drive. Pull over to a safe location or call a friend. Losing alertness for even a second can cause your vehicle to go hurtling into danger. If you know you may be tired when driving, plan to get extra rest the night before and bring a passenger along to keep an eye on you, to keep you awake, or to take a driving shift.
Stay alert: At night our primary sense for gathering driving information is altered. In the dark, our eyes struggle to gain the same amount of information for our brain as during the day. Depth perception and our peripheral vision are hindered. It is important to take extra time and give greater following distance at night. Be sure to double check if the coast is clear on turns for judging distance and speed can be difficult. Street signs can be difficult to locate and see at night and topographical features can look differently than they do in the daytime. Be prepared to brake, and be on the lookout for animals who may be crossing the road.
Maintain your Vehicle: Make sure your headlights, taillights, windshields, windows, and mirrors are clear and clean. Being seen is as important as being able to be seen. Having working and legal headlights and tail lights is one of the first steps to safe driving at night. It is also important to maintain the rest of your vehicle. Doing roadside maintenance can be very dangerous at night.
50% of the fatal crashes occur at night. This is a staggering amount considering only 9% of total driving occurs at night. It is important to know the risks of driving at night. It is also important to stay alert and practice good driving habits. Take caution and be prepared when you drive at night. Practice driving in the dark. Start at dusk when it is not too late and there is still some light out. Then, transition to later times, but do not force it and always drive with alertness and calmness.