10 Tips for Driving After Dark

Driving at night can be a soothing and enjoyable experience; there are less people on the road, it’s much quieter, and you can’t see muchbeyond what’s directly in front of you. Pop in some of your favorite music on your car stereo, forget any destinations on your car navigation system, and just drive.  Driving at night can be a great experience,but it can also be dangerous – here are some tips for driving after the sun goesdown.

Aim Your Headlights – Many people are unaware that yourheadlights can be aimed a certain direction, much like your mirrors. Also likeyour mirrors, if they are not aimed correctly it can greatly affect theirutility. Make sure your headlights are aimed properly so that they illuminatethe road well but do not blind oncoming traffic. You can check your owner’smanual for instructions how to do this.

Also make sure that your headlights are free from haze andgrime. Over the years the plastic surface of headlights can become yellowedand hazy, reducing the amount of light coming from your headlamps. If they arefoggy or yellowed you can have them re-surfaced, polish them yourself, orreplace them to regain proper visibility.  

Dim Your Instrument Panel – The many bright lights on yourdashboard can be distracting visually from the road. To make sure you can seethe road clearly, make sure to dim your dash lights quite a bit when driving atnight. Also, avoid leading interior lights on as most illuminate the entirecabin and can also be a distraction.

Wear Proper Eyewear – There are yellow-tinted “night drivingglasses” sold that claim they help you see better at night. These claims arefalse. There is no evidence to substantiate that wearing any kind of tintedsunglasses will help your vision in low light situations. Save your money andskip the glasses; pay attention to the rest of these tips instead.

 Watch For Retinas – If you live anywhere with trees, therealways seems to be woodland critters about waiting to jump into the road. Beforeyou see them however, you can usually spot your headlights reflecting off oftheir retinas. Watch far ahead for two little balls of green or yellow light inthe distance. If you see them ahead you can slow down to make sure you don’thit them. If it seems like it’s too late and you see a deer in front of you,slow down as much as possible – if you try to swerve to avoid the deer theywill often follow your headlights and you’ll end up hitting them anyway, justfaster, and possibly swerve into oncoming traffic.

Don’t Stare at Oncoming Lights – It seems like a no-brainer,but in the quiet, dim hush of your car interior while driving at night, brightlights from oncoming traffic or bright street signs can be a distraction andyou can be lulled into staring at them before you realize it. 

Keep Your Windshield Spotlessly Clean -  Windshields that appear clean in the day canreveal greasy streaks that cloud your vision at night. One trick to remove thestreaks is to polish your windshield with newspaper to remove all of theresidue. It’s mostly oil that’s the culprit so take care not to touch theinside of your windshield with your hands. In addition, do all you can to avoidgetting interior dash conditioners on your windshield – they can be difficultto get off completely.

Bolt-On Fog Lights – Fog lights help drivers see in foggyconditions by directing light low and wide in front of the car. Thisilluminates a wide swath of road without reflecting the light off of the fogand visually blinding the driver.  Foglights can be useful in clear conditions as well – the positioning of the foglights casts large shadows over objects and potholes in the road.

 Add Auxiliary Lights – If you spend a lot of time driving on country roads at night with little other traffic, adding auxiliary lights may help you see the road properly. They must be exercised with caution however because they are so bright that turning them off requires your eyes to re-adjust, taking up to 30 seconds. A lot can happen in 30 seconds when you’re driving so it’s best to only add and use auxiliary lights when you absolutely need them.

Clean and Adjust Exterior Mirrors – If your mirrors are dirty they will reflect light from cars behind you in a wider, diffused manner that produces glare. Make sure they are clean and pointed slightly down so light doesn’t reflect directly in your eyes.

Keep Your Eyes Healthy - If your own vision is impaired, all of the proper lighting in the world won’t help you see the road clearly. If you wear corrective lenses, make sure your prescription is up to date and that your vision is crisp and clear. If you do not wear any type of corrective lenses, make sure to visit an eye doctor and take an eye exam to make sure you vision is still in top form, especially as you get older

Source: Popular Mechanics

Do Your Eyes and Headlights Make a Good Team?

I’m not sure if it’s just me getting older or my car, but it’s getting harder and harder to see the road while driving at night. It’s one thing to make sure luxury items like your Car Radio or Car Navigation System are working, but it’s even more important to maintain parts that affect your safety. Headlights begin to dim over time, and as the days get shorter in these winter months their brightness becomes even more important.

There are many different types of headlights such as incandescent, halogen, and xenon. Incandescent bulbs are the more traditional bulbs and tend to dim faster as the filament inside evaporates over time. Xenon bulbs use newer technology, specifically the HID (High Intensity Discharge) xenon bulbs which use two electrodes in a xenon gas-sealed bulb rather than a traditional filament. We are seeing these bulbs more and more in newer cars because the light they create is not only three times brighter than a halogen bulb, but lasts ten times longer. While three times brighter seems great for the driver, I can think of a time or two I’ve been blinded by an oncoming Audi or BMW, thinking their brights were on. Some headlights out today, such as bi-xenon, are so bright that they require self-leveling so they don’t blind other drivers on the road.

No matter which type of headlight your car uses, if you’re squinting to see the road at night you either need new bulbs or a pair of glasses. If you do notice your yellow-glowing halogen lights are much dimmer than they once were, be sure to change them both at the same time! It’s also fairly easy to upgrade them to xenon for that new, fresher look. Dimming headlights is a common problem but an easy fix, so don’t sacrifice your safety or the safety of other drivers on the road.