Tips for Safe Nighttime Driving

 

Daylight Savings Time ends soon which for a lot of drivers will mean a much darker commute on their way home from work. You may not have given it a lot of thought, but driving at night or in the dark poses several unique driving dangers as compared to driving on a sunny afternoon. Aside from just having limited visibility at night, most drivers are generally more fatigued at night, making it substantially more difficult to concentrate on the road ahead. We’ve compiled a few tips below to help you drive safer at night.

·         Don’t be afraid to use your headlights. Even at dusk or at times when you think you can see fine without them, turn your headlights on. There’s no harm in doing so. Not only will this increase your visibility, but it will also help other drivers see your car as well.

·         Make sure all of your lights work. Check beyond your headlights. Make sure taillights, brake lights, and fog lights are all working properly and not burned out before your next nighttime commute.

·         Maintain a further following distance. Increase your distance behind another car by about five seconds longer than you would during the day to give you more time to respond. This will make it easier to spot and avoid road hazards at night.

·         Put down the cell phone. Really, put it down. You shouldn’t be texting or trying to dial phone numbers at any point at which you are driving, but it is especially important to avoid using your cell phone at night. Driving distractions like this are only magnified and worse at night.

·         Keep your eyes moving. Driving at night, especially on roads that are not heavily populated with traffic, can leave you in an autonomous state. Scan the road in front of you and look for flashes of light in hard to see places, such as at the top or a hill or around a curve. This could signal the headlights of an approaching car or could be the reflection of an animal crossing the road.