Just a few steps and you will drive more safely even when it gets dark.
Snow, frost, slippery road surface. But this is not the only betrayal that lies in wait for you when driving a car in winter. The day is short and much more often you have to drive in the dark or in total darkness. Which is much more challenging. Roads seem longer, turns sharper and obstacles come unexpectedly, for example in the form of deer running across the road. According to the European Transport Safety Council, the risk of a fatal accident at night is up to three times higher than during the day. The main reason? In short, the brain works and reacts differently in the dark.
Slow reactions
The reaction time is increased by a third to a half in the dark. It may not seem like much, but it’s actually a very long time. If a driver reacts within one second during the day, it can take him up to half a second longer to react at night. For example, if you drive at a speed of ninety kilometers per hour, the braking distance in that fateful half-second is extended by twelve meters. Such a difference often determines whether you can stop in time or an accident occurs.
“Drivers should realize that their eyes do not work in the dark in the same way as they do during the day. Adaptation to dimness and darkness takes longer, reaction time is longer and any fatigue manifests itself more quickly. That is why it is important to slow down, rest more often and adapt your driving to the circumstances,” points out Radan Zugar, head of the Prague Eye Center.
According to experts, it is particularly treacherous that the estimation of the distance and speed of oncoming vehicles also deteriorates at night. The driver feels that the car in the opposite direction is further than it really is. “Incorrect estimates of the distance are among the frequent causes of head-on collisions at night,” adds the doctor.
Rapid fatigue
Driving at night tires the eyes and brain more than driving during the day. According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fatigue is behind up to a fifth of all nighttime accidents. The eyes get tired faster in the dark, because intense focusing puts more strain on them. After just two hours of continuous driving, attention decreases because of this and so-called tunnel vision can easily appear. That is, a situation where the driver perceives only a narrow lane in front of him and loses track of movement on the sides of the road.
Another danger is closely related to fatigue. Microsleep, i.e. a situation where the brain shuts down for a few seconds. At a speed of 90 km/h, two seconds of microsleep means another 50 meters of driving without anyone having control over the car. And what about on the highway at a much higher speed. That’s why it pays to take breaks at least every two hours, stretch and give your eyes and brain a short rest. And if you have a car that automatically tells you the need for such breaks, just listen to it. It might save your life.
A few blind seconds
The problem is that you are of course not alone on the road. Not only because you can meet an irresponsible driver. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it. But you are also in danger from cars that drive towards you quite normally. And their lights are logically directed directly into your eyes. A strong light in such a situation can significantly limit your vision for 3 to 7 seconds, and then you can drive two hundred meters without proper visual control.
Therefore, experts recommend that when meeting an oncoming vehicle, you should look towards the right edge of the road and never look directly into the lights. Glasses with an anti-reflective coating also help with better vision, which, according to the Czech Ophthalmological Society, can reduce glare by up to a third. Glasses with a yellow filter also help to increase the contrast and thus see better. And if you combine both variants, you will of course drive even more comfortably in the dark.
There is also a solution for those who are used to wearing contact lenses instead of glasses. “There are intraocular lenses that can minimize the occurrence of unwanted light phenomena, including glare from oncoming vehicles, which is a great benefit for active drivers,” adds the doctor.
Clear glass
It may seem like a rash. Or vice versa as a matter of course. But how often do you check if you are driving with really clean glass? Even small dirt can cause greater strain on the eyes over longer distances and thus greater fatigue and less confident reactions. And a downright dirty windshield will be responsible for almost half the worse overview of what is happening around you. Not to mention possible cracks in the glass, with which perhaps only a stuntman really goes on the road.
And one more thing to check before the evening drive. How clean your headlight lenses are. When else do you need to see well than when it’s dark all around?
Healthy eyes see better
It is important not only if you drive often. The health of your eyes has a direct impact on road safety, so you shouldn’t neglect it. At the very least, it should warn you if you feel that your vision will deteriorate in the dark. Then it’s definitely time to visit an eye doctor. However, everyone who ever drives should go for regular check-ups. “Many people don’t even realize they have night myopia until they find themselves in challenging road conditions,” explains Radan Zugar.
In the dark
Eyes need time to get used to the dark. The adaptation process can take up to 20 to 30 minutes, during which your vision becomes worse and less sharp. The ability to distinguish details decreases by up to 80 percent, which means that you react much more slowly in the first minutes after dark. Just drive out of a lighted city onto a dark road and trouble can be caused once or twice.
You could find this article in the magazine Recipe No. 01/26.
