Driving is already a dangerous enough endeavor without any extra added elements. From blow outs, driver errors to rain and ice many hazards abound. In fact the most common one happens every day, or rather every night. Night driving can be incredibly dangerous. In fact, road fatalities occur three times as much at night then during the day. Only a quarter of driving is done at night yet over half of the countries driving deaths happen at night.
Your depth perception, color analysis, and peripheral vision are all less at night. People tend to be more tired at night. How many times have you had high beams flashing in your eyes and blinding you? Add a little rain or fog and it gets even worse. Fortunately there are things you can do to play it safer. Here are a few.
WILDLIFE SPOTTING
Animals are much more active at night. In fact, hitting a deer is the number one cause of animal related deaths in the country. Often they see the lights and bolt right out of the woods or freeze on the road in front of you. If you shine a light in an animal’s eyes they will reflect back at you, often gold or yellow but sometimes red. You can always see these reflections well before you see the animal itself. So be on a look out for them. If you do see them then slow down quickly. Be careful about swerving because some animals will follow the light. Another problem with swerving is that you often end up hitting a tree or a ditch instead of the animal, which can often be just as bad if not worse.
IT’S A BLUR
Another common problem is that a windshield that seems clean during the day can be very blurry or streaky at night. Oil and residue can build up and blur at night. Never use your hands to touch you windows and mirrors. Your hands leave oils and prints that can blur. Use window cleaner and a soft cloth clean them well. One good trick is to wipe them down with newspapers. This soaks up all the oils and leaves you seeing clearly now.
DON’T LOOK AT THE LIGHTS
Bright lights can really hurt your night vision. Just when you think your eyes are adjusted some large truck comes along and blinds you. Don’t stare into them. Turn your eyes or head just enough so that they don’t shine directly into your eyes. You might naturally want to see if they are high beams or whatnot but don’t. If a car behind you is shining lights into you rear view mirror tilt or adjust so they don’t.
Driving at night is often soothing but at the same time dangerous. Fortunately most new
cars for sale have fog lights, high beams, and even infrared or digital technology to help you drive safer at night. That being said it never hurts to be careful.
Jeff Jordan writes about cars, driving and transportation.
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