Night Driving: No No?

Driving in the dark is something that I definitely have a serious problem with. I am only 24 but I have worse eyesight than my grandmother! This means that my night vision is, of course, totally shot. The way I like to avoid having to drive in the dark is by just refusing to drive after dark. Are we going to be out past sunset? Awesome, you drive, cause I will not be able to see. But of course there are some times when we do have to drive after dark because it’s unavoidable or you misscheduled something – whatever happened, you’ll still have to drive in the dark. Here are some tips for driving after dark for those of us who might not be the most comfortable doing so.

First, throw away those nighttime driving glasses. Not your regular glasses, of course! Some people are making money selling nighttime driving glasses that actually don’t help at all. In fact, they decrease your vision, which is even more dangerous than your naked eyes on the road. Yeah, I almost fell for it too. But these things aren’t good. Unless they are actual night vision goggles, and you’re on a safari or walking around at night, you shouldn’t have anything on your eyes besides glasses or contacts after dark.

Your high beams are your best friends on dark, empty roads. If you’re driving alone on the road (as in, there are no other cars that you can see), you should turn on your high beams. Wildlife is a big threat to your safety in the car, and if your night vision is bad, you shouldn’t risk anything. Turn those high beams on! But as soon as you see another car, whether it’s oncoming or a car that’s in your lane in front of you, turn your high beams off. That’s just politeness!

If you encounter someone who has kept their high beams on even though there is another car there (yours), some good tips are to either look at the white line on the side of the road (your side) as they pass – you can still stay in your lane but you are not looking directly at the high beams and won’t develop spots in your eyes or ruin your night vision. This tip I actually learned in my driver’s ed class when I was 16, and it’s helped me through a lot of tough nighttime spots!

If you really can’t trust your eyes to get you through night driving, always err on the side of caution. Call for a cab, have a friend drive you, or just stay where you are. Schedule yourself well so that you won’t have to drive after dark. And if you need a car to get you around, come down to King Volkswagen and pick out one to test drive today!