Driving at Night

[Triquet]

Much of the AD received wisdom really concerns driving in the hours of daylight. But what happens at night? Particularly things like observation, positioning, limit points and all that good stuff? Shall we air it a bit?

[Horse]

But what happens at night?

Well, pretty much all of us are probably wildly optimistic about how far ahead we can see on dipped beam.

[Triquet]

Very true. Particularly in Occupied North Berkshire you can't very often use full beam. But a plus point is that there is usually so much traffic about you can get a very good sense of where the road is going .

[GTR1400MAN]

See page 13 here (PDF) for an article written by a friend several years back (It's for bikes but some of it applies to cars too).

[Triquet]

That's pretty good Mike, I enjoyed it.

[Another Bill]

Definitely an age-related aspect, imo. Despite being recently past state retirement age, with glasses, I’m lucky enough to still have 20/20 vision right eye, left eye slightly better than 20/20.

But as early as my late 30s I found I was nagging the opticians every time I got tested, as I noticed night driving was getting progressively harder. Main problem was the darkness just seemed darker every year. And each optician simply assured me, it was normal deterioration. That’s continued, and I often notice to that younger people are able to see more detail than me in darkness.

Age apart, I’d also like to see a return to 70s habits, where driving on sidelights was the norm in well lit 30 limits and still remains legal afaik.. Pretty much eliminates dazzle, and a boon to pedestrians too, who also suffer dazzle. Unfortunately it only really works if everybody does the same as a single vehicle with headlamps will potentially mask several with just sidelights. So I do of course use headlights nowerdays.

[Horse]

Yes, our eyes naturally 'dim' as we age. Only way around that is replacement artificial lenses.

Add to that, peripheral vision deteriorates after 60 and cataracts become likely.

Cheery stuff

[Triquet]

One advantage of the cataract operation is that you can get partial correction (I use my computer now without glasses but still need them for driving) and once you have both eyes done, eyesight is pretty stable. Being an Old Person I am entitled (and use) annual checkups but it's a bit of a formality and an excuse to replace broken specs ...

[Gareth]

Maybe look at https://archive.advanceddrivinghub.com/ ... f=2&t=2175 - seems to have some helpful thoughts.

[Triquet]

That's a good one Gareth, and well done Nick for starting it off. And you probably have noticed that the muntjac population in Berkshire / Oxfordshire has surged alarmingly. Drive down the A34 and you'll see dead deer just about every day. And also since that thread we have the ongoing problem of SUV's with higher lights ...

At night it is also far more difficult to "read" other drivers intentions. And no matter what it may say on the tin, it is much more use to signal than make assumptions ...