Dangers In Driving Your Car At Night

If you are driving at night you need to use extra caution, because more accidents happen at night than during the day. In fact, between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. is the riskiest time for driving, because that’s when the most crashes occur. There are many reasons why driving at night causes more accidents than driving during the day. Two major factors in night time driving are darkness and visibility. Darkness causes your depth perception, color recognition, and peripheral vision to be altered. This is why you may notice a significant change in your vision while driving at night. The number of accidents is higher at night, because most of a driver’s reaction depends on vision; if your vision is limited at night then your reaction will be as well.

There are things you can do to make night time driving a little safer such as:

• Having a mechanic check your headlight aim a couple times a year- if the aim of your headlights is off, it may cause glare to other drivers on the road plus properly aligned headlights will help you see better.

• Turning your headlights on at dusk will make it easier for others to see you.

• Don’t drink and drive- drinking already affects your reactions, mixing it with night time driving could have a deadly result.

• Always remember to not overdrive your headlights, meaning you should be able to stop inside the illuminated area.

• Increase your following distance, this will make it easier for you to spot potential problems on the road and give you more time to react.

• Drive slower, going too fast is more dangerous at night than during the day, because you can’t see as well which means if you happen to spot something dangerous in the road you won’t have enough time to react to it.

• Help other cars see you better by making sure all the exterior lights on your car are working properly.

• If you happen to have car problems at night, be sure to pull off the road completely and turn on your dome light as well as flashers. Be sure to stay off the road way, because chances are people won’t see you until it’s too late.

• Keep your eyes moving from side to side instead of focusing on what’s directly in front of you, this will help your eyes to stay adjusted to the dark.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident in Iowa, our personal injury team at Walker, Billingsley & Bair are here to help answer any questions you may be having regarding your claim. If you would like to learn more about your rights as an injured Iowan we offer a No Cost book to Iowans who have been injured in a car accident. To request your copy of our no risk or obligation book you can visit us at www.IowaCarAccident.com or Call Now 1-800-707-2552 ext. 810 (24 hour recorded message) Your Journey for Justice Starts Here!

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