Tips For Safe Nighttime Driving

Driving a motor vehicle can be a daunting task on today’s highways. With so many more distractions than ever before, satellite radio, in dash dvd players and video games, navigation systems, and not to mention cell-phones, drivers are having a harder and harder time keeping their minds and eyes on the road. Though daytime travel can be dangerous, the stakes rise as the sun goes down. Visibility diminishes and often times, it is possible you are sharing the road with drowsy or heaven forbid, drunk drivers. There are precautions to make your nighttime driving safer for you and your family and should be adopted in order to remain your safest on the road at night.

One piece of good advice, as given by the Motor Vehicle Lighting Council, is to turn on your headlights an hour before sunset and keep your headlights engaged for an hour after sunrise. This helps ensure that other drivers see you at twilight and at sunrise, two times of day where it is not actually night but just dark enough to fool some drivers’ visions. It is also essential to make sure that all exterior lights are in good working order at intervals during the year. Properly working taillights at night are the only way to let a following driver see that you are there. To avoid the blinding effects of glare, never stare into the headlights of oncoming traffic, but instead look to the right side of the road away from the oncoming beams. If your rear view mirror has the option, it is a nice feature to use the “night” setting to let you dim the reflection of following vehicles’ beams. Something that is often overlooked, yet very important, is the need for a clean, smudge-free windshield and windows, especially at night, when every smudge is lit up by oncoming and passing headlights. Obstructions of vision at speed and at night can be dangerous and deadly. Following distance should be extended for safety’s sake, giving you more time to react to what is happening on the road ahead. It is essential that your speed never over-reaches your headlights, always making sure your reaction time is ample and speed is adjusted accordingly.

By following these and adhering to normally safe procedures that apply to safe daytime driving as well, you can minimize your chances of being in a nighttime automobile accident. If at anytime of the day, you feel drowsy, it is always best to pull over and rest, for your sake and the sake of others on the road. If a drowsy or otherwise impaired driver strikes your vehicle, you must be ready to protect you and your family’s rights and assets by securing an excellent personal injury lawyer that will fight for you.

Lloyd Robles heads Robles & Associates, an Austin, Texas based firm, specializing in personal injury law. Please visit www.roblesassociates.com