Winter has arrived, delivering longer nights. Whether you’re dropping the kids off at school in the morning or running errands after you get off work, chances are you’ll be driving in the dark.
While driving in darkness can be done safely, it comes with its own hazards, such as decreased visibility and glare from headlights of other cars, making it more dangerous overall. This is especially true if you have an eye condition or wear glasses.
Before heading out for a nighttime drive, there are safety tips you should follow to decrease your risk of accidents, to protect not just yourself and your passengers, but also your fellow drivers out on the road.
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10 tips for safer driving in the dark
Here are a few simple ways to reduce vision problems when driving after dark.
1. Keep your windshield clean
Glare can increase when your windshield is dirty, as dirt disperses light. Certain treatments, like rain repellent, can also increase glare on your windshield at night. Keep your windshield as clear as possible to minimize glare and enhance visibility. AAA says a dirty windshield can also obstruct your field of vision, and it recommends cleaning your windshield at least once a week.
2. Keep your headlights clean
You can help increase visibility by ensuring your headlights are free from dirt and debris. Checking for clean headlights is especially important if you live in a dusty region or frequently drive in areas where hitting bugs is common.
3. Use high beams when needed
Be sure to use your high beams on rural roads near forests or fields and, as the National Safety Council recommends, on longer or wider stretches of road. High beams can help you see deer in these instances, but avoid using high beams in rain or fog, as they can reduce visibility. Turn off high beams when going up hills or around bends to avoid shining high beams in other drivers’ eyes.
4. Avoid looking at headlights
It may be instinctive to look directly at a flash of oncoming headlights coming over the hill or around a corner, but practice averting your gaze. Looking into bright headlights can temporarily impair your vision and may also leave afterimages, making it harder to see once the vehicle has passed.
5. Check headlight alignment
The Mayo Clinic recommends working with your mechanic to ensure headlights are correctly aimed. Wear and tear on your car can cause misalignment, and some cars are manufactured with misaligned headlights. US laws don’t require manufacturers to test alignment after the headlights are installed, according to NBC News. The result can be devastating glare for other nighttime drivers, plus reduced visibility for you.
6. Dim your interior car lights
Interior lights should always be off or dimmed when driving at night. They make your eyes more used to light, which can reduce your night vision (our eyes typically take a few minutes to adjust to darkness). If your interior lights are on to help you or a passenger see something inside your vehicle, it may add to the existing distractions. Interior lights are also another source of light to reflect off your windshield.
7. Keep your eyeglasses clean
Like dirt on a windshield, smudges on your glasses can disperse light and add to glare problems. Clean your eyewear properly, using a cloth specifically designed for eyeglasses, warm water or a mild, moisturizer-free dish soap, according to Heartland Optical. Wiping your glasses on your shirt may be a common practice, but it can also introduce dirt and scratch lenses, obscuring vision further.
8. Wear the right eyeglasses
Keep up on optometrist appointments so your doctor can confirm you’re wearing the correct prescription. Also, you can look into anti-reflective lenses, which have a coating that decreases reflective light. Avoid eyeglass styles that obstruct peripheral vision.
Other options include night-driving glasses, which usually have yellow lenses designed to reduce glare from headlights. However, be sure to consult your doctor before using them. Some professionals believe they could compromise your night vision instead of improving it.
9. Keep yourself alert for driving
Even small time changes can leave us feeling jet-lagged. Daylight saving time can disrupt your circadian rhythm (the internal clock that tells you when to go to bed and when to stay up), according to Northwestern Medicine, and fatigue can lead to blurred vision.
10. Increase your following distance
When driving at night with lowered visibility, it can be difficult to see and quickly react to hazards in the road as quickly as you would in the daytime. Headlights only illuminate so far ahead, and drivers who are tired will likely react slower to unexpected obstacles.
Whether it’s a deer running out in the road or a large object that has fallen out of another vehicle’s truck bed, these obstacles may require drivers to quickly brake or swerve to avoid a collision or damage to their vehicle. Increasing your following distance will give you more time to react and adjust if the driver in front of you needs to stop or swerve unexpectedly to avoid an obstacle.
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