Safe driving at night should be on everyone’s minds. The nights are growing longer. Most of us will do more driving in darkness. Night driving presents unique challenges and risks for drivers. Our risk of involvement in a fatal accident at night is triple the risk in the daytime. Weekend nights are the most dangerous times for fatal crashes. We offer here our 18 tips for safe driving at night.
Night Driving Dangers
Among the dangers of night driving are:
- Reduced vision. Your depth perception, peripheral vision, and color recognition will be diminished. If you are aged 50 or over, you need twice as much light to see as well as a 30-year-old driver. The reduced vision will also affect your reaction time. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “You see less of the road ahead of you and have less room and time to stop.”
- Driving Drowsy diminishes your concentration and further reduces your reaction time.
- Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs dulls your senses, reduces your reaction time, and affects your thought processes. Thirty-two percent of car crashes that occur at night involve at least one driver who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
