Driving in the Dark

Most of us motorists are far more used to driving in daylight than being behind the wheel after dark. But what do you do if you are new to driving at night time? Here are some of Britannia’s top tips for driving in the dark:

–          Drive slower than usual. As always, stay below the speed limit, however this becomes especially important at night time. With your vision of the distance obscured by the darkness ahead, it will become increasingly harder to see further ahead of you, and when driving at high speeds your stopping distance is increased when driving at high speeds. Drive slower than you are normally used to, even if this means holding other cars up behind you. They will overtake you if they need to, but just make sure you give yourself enough space and time to react to whatever may come out of the darkness.

–          Keep your windscreen clean. This goes for headlights too, your aim is to maximise visibility as much as possible to counteract the detrimental effects of the dark.

–          Stay alert. At night people and animals can seem to appear out of nowhere, so stay focused, exercise your peripheral vision, and keep an eye on everything as far as you can see around you.

–          Keep your headlights on dipped beam. Only use the main beam when in rural areas to avoid blinding other drivers. If other drivers behind you have made this mistake, simply find a safe place to pull over and allow them to pass you, returning yourself to a safer state of driving.

–          Pull over if tired. If you are driving long distances or on monotonous stretches of anonymous motorways, tiredness can set in very quickly. Pull over to a service station or another safe place, drink a cup of strong coffee and have a nap of 20 minutes or so to replenish yourself before continuing your journey.

–          Finally, driver normally. Whilst it might be nerve-racking to drive in darkness, if you continue to drive as safely as you do in broad daylight, you will avoid any problems.

Safe driving from Britannia!

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