Those who often drive at nights will agree that driving at night presents more  challenges than driving during the day. At night, vision is limited, and drivers do not have the advantage of color and contrast, which they enjoy during the day. This is why, traffic death rates at night are three times greater than the day. According to the National Institute for Highway Safety, the number and severity of auto accidents increases 10 fold between the hours of 11 pm and 3 am. Here are few tips for safe night driving:

• Make sure all exterior lights of your vehicle work properly, and make it easy for others to see you. If there is any problem with the lights, fix or repair them immediately. Headlights of a vehicle are the most important safety feature for night driving. If their lenses are scratched, or even cloudy, get them repaired. Dim headlights are said to be the second most important cause for night accidents, next to drunk driving. Moreover, in fog, use low beam headlights. High beams can reduce your visibility.
• If streetlights cause a lot of glare, dim your dashboard lights. You can also use your sun visor, but avoid using other lights inside your vehicle. Adjust the interior lights of your vehicle according to your convenience and street conditions.
• Adjust the vehicle mirrors to your advantage. Properly aligned exterior mirrors can reduce blind spots, as well as glare from other vehicles behind you. Adjust the outside rearview mirrors in such a way that the bodywork of the vehicle is just outside your (driver’s) view.
• Make sure all windows of your vehicle are clean. Because, dirty windows increase glare, and cause difficulty to see outside. In addition, clean the inside and outside of windshield, and replace windshield wipers on a regular basis. Ineffective wipers, coupled with rain at night can reduce your visibility, and increase the risk of an accident.
• Usually, intersections or curves give flashes of light. Thus, always keep looking for flashes at such points, since these may indicate the headlights of other vehicles.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 10:52 am and is filed under Maintenance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.