Silly car question #48: is it better/safer to drive at night?
Monday, 24 December 2018
OPINION: When it comes to holiday motoring, I'm a big fan of travelling at night.
It's not just for the obvious reason - that it's much less busy than the daytime. Although that's worth keeping in mind.
Weirdly, I just feel safer in the dark, especially if the roads are familiar. There are fewer distractions and I find my mind more focused on the job of driving, rather than thinking about what else is going on during the course of the day. That's partly because there are a greater variety of important driving-related tasks to do at night, like dipping lights for oncoming traffic.
You have to stay alert at night. There's much less potential to let your mind wander.
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Having a relatively narrow field of vision keeps your attention on the road ahead and you can always see when another vehicle is approaching because you can see the lights from a long way away. It's likely they will attract your attention even before you would have spotted them during daylight hours.
It's true that a totally unfamiliar road can add extra stress to night driving. But assuming you're driving safely and to the conditions, it can also enhance that focus and attention.
There's also infrastructure to help you. For example, did you know that the reflective Edge Marker Posts (EMPs) used on many roads can tell you a lot about what's coming up ahead?
EMPs on the left side of the road are white with a red band that's split by a reflective white marker. But the EMP on the right (ie across on the other side of the road) has a solid red band, so you can clearly see the shape and direction of a winding road ahead. If there's a corner approaching, the right-hand EMP will often also have a yellow vertical stripe.
Not to mention the striped EMPs for bridges - again, in different colours for the left and right-hand sides of the road.
I'll admit I'm spoilt in the job of motoring writer by having access to lots of new cars with lots of new lighting technology.
Automatic high-beam (which dips automatically when required) is now commonplace on new cars (part of Toyota's standard safety package for new models, for example), but there's also exciting stuff like 'matrix LED' lighting, which can maintain high-beam at all times by using a forward facing camera and individually switchable LED segments to adjust the light pattern around oncoming traffic. Technology like this has to be seen to be believed.
Remarkable stuff, but my love of night driving is really nothing to do with all these techy toys.
The reality is that I think driving at night feels like more of an adventure and keeps me more engaged.
Given the choice I prefer getting up in the very early hours and clocking up serious distance before dawn - although the romance potentially dims when you're faced with the sun glaring low in the sky (same goes setting out before sunset and driving into the night). Really, total darkness is best.
For the record, the Road Code says that should have your headlights on on 30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise, or whenever visibility falls below 100 metres. That's headlights as opposed to the daytime running lights fitted to most modern cars, which are designed to let you be seen as opposed to helping you see.
So yes, I'd personally say driving at night is better. But is it safer?
From the point of view of a car weirdo who finds night-driving completely engrossing, you could argue yes.
But for… um… normal people, probably no.
A lot of driving depends on visibility (including peripheral vision), colour recognition and depth perception. You don't have much of any of that at night.
Even on high beam, headlights only give you a very small chance (a couple of seconds at most) to react to danger on the open road because you can't see what's beyond that beam.
There's also the obvious issue: that night-time is when you're usually most likely to be sleeping, so your senses may not be at their most lively.
There's also the possibility of being dazzled by other drivers who fail to dip their lights as they approach. If that does happen, look to the left-hand side of the road and gradually slow down, all the while keeping it smooth.
In general, it makes sense to say that a lot of extra care is required when driving at night. And that's fine; doesn't mean you won't still enjoy the journey a whole lot more.