Driving at night can be a risky business. Most of the people who plan long haul trips prefer to travel at night. The clear reason behind this is low traffic. Yes, traffic can be considered as a good reason but only in some cases. If you are travelling on the weekend, it is possible that you may find light traffic at night too.
When it comes to problems of driving at night, there are many apart from the traffic. Weather, for instance, if you are traveling across the state, you may never know the type of weather it will be there. And bad weather like rain or snow can become a problem. And who knows how good are your vehicle’s headlights. You need to get them checked!
If you are planning to travel at night for your cross-state trip, here is how you can counteract some problems that you may face while driving at night!
Common issues of night drivers
If you are a night driver, you will surely face these issues at some point!
1. Fatigue
When dusk arrives, our body naturally starts turning toward the rest mode. Moreover, if you are starting your trip after a busy day at work, it can become nearly impossible for you to drive at night. Your body may not support you due to excessive fatigue.
Hence, it is necessary for you to charge yourself before beginning your long commute at night. For this, you can do various things, like:
- Start a bit early: One way to make yourself comfortable with the low-light night conditions is by starting off early. You see, if you start your trip while there is still light outside, it helps your body, mind and most importantly, eyes adjust as per the external environment. Therefore, when it will be dark outside after some time, you will not face issues with the transition.
- Get enough sleep before you drive: It may not be fit for everyone, but it will be best if you take a good nap before going out on a ride at night. Sleeping enough before travelling at night can keep you energetic and focused for a long time.
Never drive the car if you have been awake for 16 hours or more!
2. Poor Visibility
Poor visibility is the most critical factor that affects everyone’s driving at night. It is important to note that all roads will not be well lit at night. There could be areas where you have to rely solely on your car’s headlights for keeping an eye on the road.
Apart from this, it is pretty common to see people driving on high beam in areas with less light. It is not wrong, but it may affect your visibility with glares. To drive easily, you should avoid looking directly at the headlights of the approaching car.
It will not only help you focus on your track but will also prevent your vision from getting affected. In the long term, looking at high beam lights may make it difficult for your eyes to adjust from bright light to dim light. Hence, you should focus more on lane marking or just looking straight while driving.
It is also necessary to keep the headlights, mirrors and windshield of your car clean. This will keep the light from scattering and will also prevent glare.
3. High Speed
Driving at high speeds at night can also turn out as a big problem for you. Consider this, if you are driving at high speed at night and all of a sudden, an animal comes in your way. There will be no way of saving it, and an accident will occur.
The reason behind this is low visibility and a shorter reaction time. Driving at a higher speed at night will not allow you time to stop before a mishap. Moreover, when you are driving faster, you need to be extra careful. So, it is best to be slow while driving at night, especially where the roads are not well lit.
4. The type of road
If you have travelled at night before, you must have observed that driving on different roads is different. And if you have planned to travel on a winter night, you may have made a bad choice. As the roads in winters are slippery, it wiill be tough for you to manoeuvre your car. Hence, it is best to plan before you get on the road on a winter night.
Apart from this, it will be good for you if you avoid two-lane highways at night. Why? Well, one major reason for this is the visibility issue. The cars coming from the other side of the highway may hamper the visibility by shining their bright lights into your eyes. Hence, making it problematic for you to drive. It will be ideal for you to take a safer route for traveling at night.
5. Bad Lighting
Bad or improper lighting can also be problematic at night. Therefore, it is necessary for you to timely check your car’s headlights, tail lights, indicator lights, and others. As these are highly necessary for the dark, rain, hail, and snow, make sure you get on the road with all of these perfectly working.
Other than the external lighting, it is also necessary to have lights with low brightness inside your car. This will help you obtain a much better view of the way you are travelling on. Having low brightness lights inside will also work in favour of the dash cam installed in the car. The recordings will be clear and glare-free.
However, make sure that the interior lights are not too dim that you can’t even see the controls inside your car.
Final Words
It is not recommended to drive a night. Anyway, if you have to for your surprise trip or a crucial business meeting, it will be best to keep all these common problems of driving at night in mind