Driving at Night

Driving at night increases the fatal crash risk per mile of travel for all drivers, and especially for teenage drivers. At night, driving is more difficult, driver fatigue is more common, and alcohol is more likely to be used. Many provisionally licensed drivers have limited experience driving at night.

Tips:

Slow down and drive within the range of your vehicle’s headlights.
Dim your vehicle’s headlight beams at least 500 feet ahead of approaching vehicles.
Dim the headlights when following another car. Your vehicle’s headlights reduce the other driver’s vision.

Keep headlights clean. Headlight dirt can cut light output by 75 percent. Proper headlight aim also is very important and should be checked periodically.
Never look directly at a glaring headlight. Keep your eyes on the right edge of the road, but at the same time, pay attention to where the oncoming vehicle is by quick glances in that direction.
Greatly reduce speed when confronted with oncoming headlights, especially when the headlights are not dimmed. Maintain reduced speed until your eyes are recovered from the glare.
Go slow on curves. Remember that your car will not automatically follow the direction of the curve.
Avoid using light of any kind in your car while driving.
Do not drive if tired. Fatigue reduces your ability to see clearly, and you may fall asleep when least aware of it.
Obey the speed limit.