Here are some tips on night driving.• Drive defensively.• Do not drink and drive.• Since you cannot see as well, you may need toslow down and keep more space between youand other vehicles.• Slow down, especially on higher speed roads. Yourheadlamps can light up only so much road ahead.• In remote areas, watch for animals.• If you are tired, pull off the road in a safe placeand rest.No one can see as well at night as in the daytime.But as we get older these differences increase.A 50-year-old driver may require at least twice as muchlight to see the same thing at night as a 20-year-old.What you do in the daytime can also affect yournight vision. For example, if you spend the day in brightsunshine you are wise to wear sunglasses. Youreyes will have less trouble adjusting to night. But if youare driving, do not wear sunglasses at night. Theymay cut down on glare from headlamps, but they alsomake a lot of things invisible.You can be temporarily blinded by approachingheadlamps. It can take a second or two, or even severalseconds, for your eyes to re-adjust to the dark. Whenyou are faced with severe glare, as from a driverwho does not lower the high beams, or a vehicle withmisaimed headlamps, slow down a little. Avoidstaring directly into the approaching headlamps.Keep your windshield and all the glass on your vehicleclean — inside and out. Glare at night is made muchworse by dirt on the glass. Even the inside of the glasscan build up a film caused by dust. Dirty glass makeslights dazzle and flash more than clean glass would,making the pupils of your eyes contract repeatedly.Remember that your headlamps light up far less of aroadway when you are in a turn or curve. Keepyour eyes moving; that way, it is easier to pick out dimlylighted objects. Just as your headlamps should bechecked regularly for proper aim, so should your eyesbe examined regularly. Some drivers suffer fromnight blindness — the inability to see in dim light — andare not even aware of it.4-32
