Defensive Driving · Driver Training VideoNight Driving

Here's the problem in one sentence: there is less traffic after dark, but the fatal crash rate goes up. Fewer cars, far more deaths per mile. That's not bad luck — that's biology and physics working against you at the same time, and this file is about beating both.

Start with your eyes

At night you lose depth perception, color, and most of your peripheral vision. Low beams show you about two hundred fifty feet of road. High beams, maybe three hundred fifty to five hundred.

So the first fix is simple: slow down at night. The number on the sign was set for daylight. Drop your speed until you can stop inside the distance your headlights show you, and open your following distance an extra second or two.

Second: manage the glare

Never look straight into oncoming headlights — move your eyes to the right edge of your lane and steer off that line until the vehicle passes. Dim your high beams early for oncoming traffic and for anyone you're following.

Third — the one that kills professionals: fatigue. Your body clock bottoms out between midnight and six in the morning, and it does not care how many years you've been driving. A microsleep lasts four or five seconds.

Your company standard: clean and check every light and both mirrors before a night run. Drop your speed so you can stop within your headlights. Add following distance. Dim early for oncoming traffic. Scan the edges of the road for eyes and movement — deer rarely travel alone.

One last thing

Some of the drivers around you at two a.m. are more tired than you, and some are impaired. Drive like it. Give space, expect the drift, and let them go.