ALT-1 Driving at Night
What's the easiest precaution you can take for safe night driving? Clean your car windows. If I'm going to be driving at night, one of the first things I do is to make sure everything I see through is clean. That means the whole windshield, side windows, side mirrors and back windows. Another important step is to wipe your headlights and your taillights as well. Night driving can produce serious glare, so it's important to have the cleanest surfaces you can to cut it down.
How is your vision? Do you wear eyeglasses or contacts? If so, have you been to your eye doctor lately? Different prescriptions are sometimes required for the daytime as well as the nighttime, so it's important to keep up to date with your vision health. Also, it's wise to keep a spare set of eyeglasses and sunglasses in the car just in case. You never know when you might break your first set!
Driving at night requires a whole different set of safety rules beyond day driving. Know your destination well first off. Have you been to this destination before, or are you going to be traveling on a whole new set of roadways? If so, then study the map and the different routes before setting off. It's a whole lot easier to look at a map at home, instead of while out on the road. It's safer as well.
Are you going to be driving on well-traveled routes? Are you going to traveling in the mountains? How about through heavily wooded areas where local wildlife might like to visit the roads? Collisions with deer and other wildlife are quite common, and deadly serious, so be very aware when driving these routes!
If you think you can have just one more drink before hitting the roads, then you're asking for trouble. Big time trouble awaits you not only in the safety department, but do you know how much a DUI really costs? Over ten grand for starters, with lawyer costs as well! Don't drink or drug before setting out, day or night! Save that behavior for home if you have to....
Be vigilant about the condition of the road you're driving on. Is it well-paved, or are there pot-holes pitting the surface? If traveling in mountainous terrain, are there barriers on the roadside? Is it well-marked? How about signage? If you can't answer yes to these questions then you had better reduce your speed, and fast! Too many accidents have occurred because of confused drivers not seeing proper exits on the highways.
One last thing, don't keep your high-beams on all the time! Driving at night is tough enough without being blinded by some moron who refuses to turn off his or her high-beams! If you encounter an idiot who refuses to dim the lights, try looking at the side of the road temporarily, then you can swear at them after you've passed!
