Specifications

Here are some tips on night driving.
• Drive defensively.
• Don’t drink and drive.
• Adjust your inside rearview mirror to reduce the
glare from headlamps behind you.
• Since you can’t see as well, you may need to slow
down and keep more space between you and
other vehicles.
• Slow down, especially on higher speed roads. Your
headlamps can light up only so much road ahead.
• In remote areas, watch for animals.
• If you’re tired, pull off the road in a safe place
and rest.
No one can see as well at night as in the daytime.
But as we get older these differences increase.
A 50-year-old driver may require at least twice as much
light to see the same thing at night as a 20-year-old.
What you do in the daytime can also affect your night
vision. For example, if you spend the day in bright
sunshine you are wise to wear sunglasses. Your eyes
will have less trouble adjusting to night. But if you’re
driving, don’t wear sunglasses at night. They may
cut down on glare from headlamps, but they also make
a lot of things invisible.
You can be temporarily blinded by approaching
headlamps. It can take a second or two, or even
several seconds, for your eyes to readjust to the dark.
When you are faced with severe glare (as from a
driver who doesn’t lower the high beams, or a vehicle
with misaimed headlamps), slow down a little.
Avoid staring directly into the approaching headlamps.
Keep your windshield and all the glass on your
vehicle clean — inside and out. Glare at night is made
much worse by dirt on the glass. Even the inside of
the glass can build up a film caused by dust. Dirty glass
makes lights dazzle and flash more than clean glass
would, making the pupils of your eyes contract
repeatedly.
Remember that your headlamps light up far less of a
roadway when you are in a turn or curve. Keep your eyes
moving; that way, it’s easier to pick out dimly lighted
objects. Just as your headlamps should be checked
regularly for proper aim, so should your eyes be
examined regularly. Some drivers suffer from night
blindness — the inability to see in dim light — and aren’t
even aware of it.
4-31