Our advice for night-time driving

Keep an eye on your equipment

To see and be seen, lights are essential : both dipped-beam and main-beam headlights must be checked regularly. The best thing to do is to switch them on when the vehicle is stationary and replace any faulty bulbs. To improve visibility, but only if visibility is seriously reduced, you might choose to use front or rear fog lamps, but you must switch them off when visibility improves. Fog lamps may dazzle other road users and can obscure brake lights.

Dirty or dusty headlight lenses can impair night-time visibility. A home wash with a sponge and a little bicarbonate of soda diluted in water is often enough to avoid this type of problem.

On the subject of visibility, as night-time driving often takes place at lower temperatures than during the day, it’s advisable to have your defrosting system checked if it’s not effective (tip : switching on the air conditioning at the same time as defrosting speeds up the removal of mist from your windscreen). The same goes for the windscreen wipers, which need to work effectively at night in bad weather.

Fighting fatigue

Heavy eyelids, the urge to rub your eyes, yawning, and worse. The warning signs that you might be falling asleep can suddenly appear while you are at the wheel. Although we can only advise you to stop as soon as possible if you feel tired, there are ways of preparing for long night-time journeys. For instance, making a playlist and planning your itinerary on ViaMichelin before you get behind the wheel means you won’t have to stress out during the journey. It’s also a good idea to carry something to keep you hydrated and cool when you’re on the road, so you can keep your wits about you during those boring stretches !

Adapt your driving at night

Although there is less traffic than during the day, we are never really alone on the road at night. While you can be sure of your own vigilance, there’s nothing to indicate that other road users are paying attention. For this reason, it is sensible to increase safe distances at night to give you more time to react, especially in conditions where visibility is reduced.

To adapt your driving to night-time conditions, road safety advice recommends that you reduce your speed slightly at night. Driving about 5 mph below the speed limit outside built-up areas provides both greater driving safety and a reaction time that is adjusted to the reduced levels of alertness.

If you wear glasses : have your eyesight tested

Unfortunately, night-time driving can often reveal possible ophthalmological “weaknesses”. For example, blurred vision at a distance may indicate myopia, while halos around headlights may indicate the beginnings of astigmatism. So if you wear glasses or contact lenses, the best thing to do is get an eye test at an ophthalmologist’s or optician’s to make sure you’re wearing the correct glasses for driving at night and keep a clear eye on what’s happening on the road.

Appropriate driving, a well-rested driver and a checked vehicle : these are the three key factors for a safe and relaxed night-time journey. Without these precautions, it’s better to stop or postpone your journey than to take ill-considered risks.