6 Safety Tips for Night Driving
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Written by Eric Riddles
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Published on April 05, 2023
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Category: Preventative Maintenance
Driving at night often presents more hazards than driving during the day. Thus, being familiar with the regulations and recommended practices for nighttime driving is crucial. Keep reading to discover six safety tips for driving at night.
1. Clean Your Windshield
It is important to keep your windshield and windows clean on a regular basis. While many impurities such as dirt, oils, fingerprints, and smudges may go unnoticed during the day, the glare of lights at night can highlight these and make it difficult to see at night.
2. Check Your Headlights
Maintaining fully functional and properly angled headlights is crucial for safe nighttime driving. It's common to see brand-new vehicles with lopsided or improperly angled headlights. Due of this, it's essential to take the time to aim them properly.
3. Increase Distance and Reduce Speed
Nighttime drivers have less vision and a correspondingly longer response time. Putting some distance between yourself and the car in front is crucial to improving your response time in case of an emergency. One of the most effective ways to maintain safety on the road at night is to reduce your speed.
4. Minimize Light in the Cabin
While driving at night, the lights in the cabin can impair your ability to see the road. Reduce the brightness of your dashboard and have your passengers turn off their map and dome lights, or at least point them away from you.
5. Watch for Wildlife
Even if there is less human traffic on the road at night, wildlife is still a potential hazard, particularly in rural locations. Avoiding an animal that darts in front of your car by swerving might be dangerous, so slow down in advance to stop safely.
6. Avoid Distractions
While driving at night, you need every second of response time and ounce of concentration you can muster. It's already tough to know whether the road is clear at night without risking your eyesight by glancing at your phone. It's, therefore, essential to keep your eyes on the road and avoid distractions.
Keep Your Car in Good Shape for Night Driving
At Custom Complete Automotive, we provide quality auto repair services throughout Missouri to help you keep your car in good condition for day and night driving. To learn more about our auto repair services, contact us today!
Find an Auto Repair Shop Near You
We have multiple auto repair shops throughout Missouri located in Columbia, Jefferson City, and St. Louis.
Eric Riddles is an ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician who has been working as an auto mechanic since 1998 and originally joined the team at Custom Complete Automotive in 2005. Eric has numerous certifications in various aspects of car repair and spent 10 years training the next generation of auto technicians at a local high school Auto Shop classroom.