subject: Top safety tips for driving your car in the dark [print this page] Top safety tips for driving your car in the dark
Even if you consider yourself to be a good driver, you may feel uncomfortable driving on poorly lit streets in the dark. With greatly reduced visibility and reaction time, night can be the most dangerous time of the day to drive - but it doesn't have to be avoided entirely when you take steps to improve your night vision and safety.
If you'll be driving down dark lanes where illumination is at a minimum, it's worth spending time allowing your eyes to acclimatise to the darkness before setting off. Your pupils can be fully dilated within several minutes, which will allow as much light as possible to enter your eyes and could make the all-important difference when reacting to obstacles in the road. Dimming the lights inside your vehicle can help enhance your night vision further, as sources of light inside your car could make it more difficult to see.
Even if you spend time training your eyes for the darkness, the glare of street lamps or car headlights can undo your hard work and can even cause severe damage to your eyes if you're unprepared. Always ensure you dim your lights when detecting oncoming motorists or pedestrians, just as you'd expect to be treated yourself, and direct your eye line to the bottom right of your windscreen to avoid the glare of other cars.
Because fast response time can be an even more important factor at night time, making sure your vehicle and all its components are up to standard can be considered essential pre-trip maintenance. Ensure your brakes, tyre pressure, fluid levels and other features are all tuned up, and clean your car windows, mirrors and lights to avoid visibility problems with dust.
Your driving style will also help ensure your safety when driving in the dark, and improve your chances of making successful claims on cheap car insurance if you're involved in accidents that weren't your fault. Drink driving can also be a problem at night time - if not from yourself, than from other drivers - and you should avoid driving when fatigued, as this could put you and your passengers at severe risk.
Although it isn't always possible, the best safety precaution for driving in the dark can be not to drive in your car at all, or at least to avoid adverse weather when rain or snow could make driving at night doubly difficult.
The author of this article is a part of a digital blogging team who work with brands like Confused.com. The content contained in this article is for information purposes only and should not be used to make any financial decisions.
