Driving at Night on Dark Roads
Driving your car at night can pose more hazards than driving during day. The dark of night can reduce visibility, making it more difficult to spot pedestrians, road signs and even other vehicles. There are also many roads throughout Ireland that don’t have any streetlights.
Is it ok to drive your car at night? Of course it is! Here are a number of steps you can take to make driving at night safer...
How to Make Night-time Driving Safer
Clean Your Windscreen
Before leaving on your journey, make sure your windscreen is clean. It may seem obvious, but very often people drive with smudged or dirty windscreens.
Check Your Lights
Check your lights before setting off. Do they work properly? Are they clean? Are they aligned? Out of line headlights are less effective and can dazzle another driver in oncoming traffic.
Check Your Tyres
Did you know you can check your tyre thread depth with a €1 coin? Run the coin along the centre of the wheel. If the gold part of the coin is visible, it’s time to get them checked by a professional. If you can’t see the gold part, the tyre thread is ok. The RSA has some helpful tips for wheel and tyre maintenance you can find here.
Increase Visibility
Always turn on your headlights as soon as the sun goes down. Dipped headlights are usually good enough for nighttime driving in towns and cities. Sometimes, it will be necessary to turn on your high beam headlights on dark roads. However, these lights should only be used when there are no cars approaching.
If an approaching car dazzles you with their full headlights, you can avoid the dazzle by looking down towards the verge of the road. If you have been dazzled, you should slow down and pull in if it is safe to do so, and always look out for pedestrians or cyclists approaching.
Get your eyesight tested
When you are driving a vehicle, you should be keeping up with your regular eye tests. Sometimes as our sight deteriorates, it can be harder to see in low lighting.
Slow Down
Slowing down will also make it easier for you to drive on dark roads at night. Drive at a speed at which you feel comfortable and in control of the car. On an unlit road and in good driving conditions, the headlights of a typical car will let you see for about 100 metres. Dipped headlights will let you see for 30 metres only, and it takes a car travelling at 100km per hour just one second to cover that length.
Breakdown Assistance
As one of the many features and benefits of Liberty car insurance cover, we provide 24-hour breakdown assistance* that provides 24-hour roadside assistance, including home start 365 days a year. Breakdown assistance includes:
- Mechanical breakdown.
- Flat battery.
- Fire.
- Attempted theft.
- Malicious damage.
- Punctures.
- Lost keys, stolen keys, keys broken in the lock or locked in the vehicle.
*24hr Breakdown Assistance is an optional cover. For more information, please refer to your policy booklet. Terms & conditions apply.For further information, please refer to the policy booklet. You can also read our blog post about Liberty breakdown assistance here.
Car Insurance With Liberty
Whatever journey you undertake, be it a short drive to the local shop or a tour of Ireland's west coast, it's important that your trip is backed up by great car insurance. At Liberty, we offer custom-built cover, fast claims and up to 25% off when you quote and buy your car insurance online (acceptance criteria, terms & conditions apply)