The brave among us think there’s no difference between driving at noon or at midnight but that’s not the case. Even if you feel completely confident driving well after the sun has set, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s always going to be worse than doing so when the sun is bright in the sky. As drivers, there’s steps we can take to make our highway travels safer but nothing is a guarantee.
The last thing any of us want to do is get into a painful accident and have to bring in a car accident lawyer. No one wants to worry about dealing with another driver that was involved and both parties’ insurance companies. Here’s more information as to how highways are dangerous at night so you know what to look out for while on the road.
Reduced Visibility
The darker it gets throughout the given day, the less natural light we are going to have to help us see everything on the road. It sounds obvious but seriously keep in mind all that means to be able to see less of what’s going on during your highway drive. It’s having a harder time seeing the other drivers, seeing the road signs, and it’s even harder to see when your exit will be coming up.
If you are driving on a familiar highway, your comfort with the road will be able to help out your reduced visibility but this is only going to get harder as we age. It might seem difficult to understand but it’s literally harder for your older loved ones to see at night. For those of us who are already at a point in life where we are experiencing that, do everything you can to only be on the highway during the day.
Drowsy Driving
The night owls aren’t going to feel like they need to worry about driving at night since that’s what they see as their prime hours. If that sounds like you that’s great, but you aren’t the only one on the road. Majority of us aren’t at our peak-energy later in the day and that can easily lead to mistakes on the highway.
Don’t think you can just have more coffee and everything will be OK. We’ve all had the thoughts of a little more caffeine being all we need to get through the last few hours of highway driving but that’s never a mentality you want to have. Always remember, be extra mindful of both how alert and awake you are feeling and how the other motorists could be tired as well.
Construction
Repairing the road has to happen at some point. Whenever possible, the majority of highway construction and repairs are going to happen during off-hours. This is the case for a few reasons, most importantly doing road work at night is going to inconvenience the smallest amount of highway drivers.
Having fewer drivers on the road is going to make things easier on the crew too but also harder on those drivers who will be out during the middle of night. Construction zones, even when indicated, can feel like they come out of nowhere when it’s something you aren’t expecting. Keep your eyes peeled for the sake of both you and those working hard to keep the roads maintained.
