What Should You Pay Attention to When Driving at Night?
3 Answers
When driving at night, you should take appropriate rest, ensure sufficient sleep before departure, and perform necessary checks and maintenance before driving at night. Here are some relevant tips for driving at night: 1. Rest: Before departure, take appropriate rest to ensure sufficient sleep and stay energetic. 2. Maintenance: Perform necessary checks and maintenance before driving at night, including inspecting all vehicle lights, electrical equipment, oil, water, and tire pressure to ensure the reliability of all components. 3. On-board Essentials: Carry necessary on-board tools, commonly used spare parts, and a working light for emergencies. 4. Avoid Close Following: When driving at night, drivers often have limited visibility compared to daytime and may encounter dangerous or emergency situations. Therefore, drivers must be prepared to stop at any time and should increase the following distance appropriately to prevent collisions between vehicles.
Driving at night indeed requires extra caution. I always perform a pre-drive vehicle check, especially ensuring the headlights and brake system are functioning properly. Speed control is particularly crucial as reduced visibility shortens reaction time, so I typically reduce my speed to about 80% of my daytime driving pace. When encountering dazzling high beams from oncoming vehicles, I habitually slow down while scanning the right lane markings to avoid direct eye contact with the intense light. A useful trick is maintaining perfectly clean windshield - nighttime glare from opposing headlights can create rainbow halos on oily films that impair vision. For long-distance trips, I make it a rule to take a 10-minute break every two hours at service areas, splashing cold water on my face to stay alert. The greatest danger of night driving is fatigue - once I nearly hit a suddenly darting stray cat during a predawn drive, an experience that made me swear off pushing through drowsiness ever since.
For me, the most important aspect of night driving is mastering light control techniques. Before every trip, I make sure all vehicle lights are in perfect condition, especially fog lights which are particularly useful in rainy or foggy weather. I maintain my speed about 10 km/h below the posted limit, and reduce it further on roads with poor reflective surfaces. A practical tip is to watch the shadows of vehicles ahead during car following - sudden shadow movements often indicate potholes. When overtaking on highways at night, I switch to low beams about 200 meters in advance to avoid blinding truck drivers through their rearview mirrors. On unlit road sections, I adjust the driver's seat to its highest position, gaining about ten meters of additional visibility. Never underestimate the importance of reflective road markers - those small reflective strips are truly magical nighttime navigational aids.
