Night driving: the dangers and challenges

You most have heard someone say "I don't drive at night" and it's also common the hear a sarcastic response like, "what are headlights for".
I presonaly do drive at night and I will love to tell you the dangers and challanges associated with night driving.

There are a lot of challenges and dangers involved in night driving. One danger of night driving is reduced visibility. A drivers may have real trouble seeing hazards like the potholes that often develop on our roads, with reduced visibility and poor or no street lighting, pedestrians and animals in the road are hard to detect.
I have also observed the problem with blinding lights from upcoming traffic. Drivers who drive on high beam and the poor lightning on the road puts pedestrians at risk because such blinding light makes them invisible.

On the picture above, any pedestrian at point X who is contemplating crossing is invisible and if the pedestrian is at point Y, already crossing. He still remains invisible. So next time you think the driver is seeing you, just remember this picture captured from the drivers perspective.

Another danger is drowsy driving, which is more common at night. Some drivers have been on the road all day and now they are exhausted and sleepy. Drowsy driving can lead to slower reaction times and even falling asleep at the wheel.

Driving in the night can even become more complicated if it rains. look at the next picture,

You will need a lot of system in good working condition to drive at night in the rain. Start by turning on the fog lights, your windshield wipers must be in good working condition, you will normally need to wind-up and in a short while, your windshield will get foggy reducing visibility the more.

With the rain pouring, all potholes will soon get filled up and you can't really tell how deep they are. And it's worst if it's an unfamiliar road. This condition will continue for a while even after the rain. And the brightness of your headlights will get absurbed but the wet road.

The friction between your tires and the road gets lost increasing your car's braking distance just the perfect recipe for disaster.

Surggestions

While this is not an attempt to encourage driving at night, but if you must this tips may be helpful.

Drive slowly and be more observant. If you can park and wait till the rain is over and the water subsides, that would be a good option.

To take care of blinding lights from upcoming traffic, drive with low beams and flash the high beam driver from a distance and most will adjust their light.

If the blinding light is from behind, get acquainted with the controls in your vehicle, the notch at the base of your rear view mirror can adjust the angle of the mirror such that you can still see the tailing vehicles without being blinded by their light.

and if the windshields get foggy which often does, you will need your air-conditioning system to clean it off.

Channel the dry air to the interior walls of your windshield to take away the moisture.

To avoid drowsy driving, have a good rest before driving, drive with someone who can keep you engaged without becoming a distraction.

If you can avoid driving at night, I will surggest you sleep over in a motel and resume driving when you can see the road.

Media Credit

Captured with	Nokia C30
Captured by	@manuelhooks
Edited with	PhotoStudio App
For Verification	My Achievement 1 Link
To view links	Use Edge or Chrome for better results

#learnfromsteem #steemexclusive #nigeria
#club5050 #lifestyle
#fintech