Car problems can happen during day or night. Moreover, car accidents are likely to occur at night time. That is why night driving should always be done with caution. It’s not to say that you shouldn’t drive at night or you should be afraid to drive at night.
Just a reminder to not let your guard down. Even if it seems that there are fewer cars at night, there are still risks for car accidents. To help lessen that risk to some degree, here are a few tips you should follow:
Be A Defensive Driver
No matter how careful you are at driving, some drivers aren’t just considerate enough for other people’s safety. Nighttime is an especially dangerous time for drunk driving offenders as some people think that they are good enough to drive even if they have alcohol in their system.
Research shows that fatal crashes due to alcohol are higher at night than at day. That’s why you have to be extra defensive while driving at night. Always be on high alert.
Take A Rest Or Nap
If you are in for the long drive, you have to make sure that your body is well prepared for it, especially at night. In case you are sleepy or fatigued, it is best to park your car and rest. A sleepy driver is a dangerous driver. Don’t fight your sleepiness and just take a few minutes to rest. Once you’ve gotten some rest, you’d feel rejuvenated. You can also have a cup of coffee after resting to feel more alert.
Cleanliness Is Your Friend
During the day, our vision is better because of the light provided by the sun. At night, our vision can be impaired due to the limited light that we have. Add that to a dirty or damaged windshield and you’d have even more decreased visibility. Make sure that you clean your windshield to prevent glare and any hindrance in your view.
Keep It Slow
The fewer number of cars on the road at night could tempt you to go as fast as you can but you should avoid that. Instead, take it slow. Due to lower visibility, you may not be able to easily see blocks on the road. Your reaction time is also shortened due to less visibility. Give yourself more time to react by going slow.
Check The Headlight Angle
With your maintenance procedure, you should also be checking the angle of your headlights. Make sure they don’t tilt down or tilt high too much. If they are tilting down, the illumination they produced could be wasted on the ground instead of further down the road. If the headlights are too high angled, they can be blinding to cars going the opposite side.
That is dangerous not only to the car on the opposite vehicle but to you too.
Use Your High Beams
Sometimes, we forget that our cars also have high beams. These are brighter than your headlights and can be very useful when there are no street lights. Use them especially when your in the open roads or in rural areas. Just don’t forget to switch them off when there is an oncoming vehicle. High beams help you with visibility but they can also be too blinding for the drivers in the opposite lane.
Adjust Your Interior Lights
Usually, we drive with the interior lights off to avoid distraction and glaring. However, you can’t really switch off the dashboard lights. What you can do is to adjust or dim them when they are too bright. Dashboard lights that are too bright can also be disorienting that sometimes, you can’t help but look down instead of keeping your eyes on the road at all times. Consider dimming them, especially at night time.
Keep An Eye Out For Wildlife
At night time, especially in more rural areas, there is a huge possibility for wildlife to pop-out of nowhere. Although the animals can run fast, sometimes the light blinds them or they gaze into it. If you don’t see them quick enough, you can run over them. Similarly, you can also try to maneuver your vehicle and avoid them but end up crashing your vehicle. The best thing is to be alert and keep an eye out for them. Also, don’t go too fast so that you can still stop before hitting them.
Test Your Lights
Checking if your lights work before you go and drive is crucial at night. Your lights will make you see the road better at night. Additionally, driving with a busted headlight is illegal. Make sure to test them out first. That is a very easy and short test that you shouldn’t forget to make whenever you are driving at night.
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