Rainy weather, especially when it's dark, can be extra hazardous. Follow our top tips for driving in wet weather after sunset.
1. Get your eyes checked by an optician. Driving at night places much more demand on your vision, and rain makes those demands much more acute. In night driving glare from oncoming traffic is often a big factor in preventing you from seeing clearly, and rain on the windscreen exacerbates the glare factor. Wearing corrective lenses reduces this problem considerably.
2. Use night-time driving glasses – these protect against the headlight glare of oncoming traffic. They usually have yellow lenses and an anti-glare coating – your local optometrist will tell you more.
3. Another good tip used by old wartime pilots is to close one of your eyes momentarily until the other car has passed you. Often this can reduce the glare factor. The trouble with closing one eye is that your depth perception is affected, so be aware of this factor.
4. Make sure your car provides you with enough illumination and as much forward vision as possible. Get the headlamps checked and adjusted if necessary. Make sure the headlamp glass of your car is clean.
5. Make sure your windscreen wiper blades are in good condition, and that the windscreen washer operates properly.
6. Misting up is a big hazard when driving in the rain, especially at night. A quick fix for windscreen misting is to turn on the car’s air-conditioner and direct the airflow to the “de-mist” setting against the windscreen. If your car doesn’t have air-conditioning, make sure the air ventilation is on the “de-mist” setting. Opening the front windows can also alleviate misting.
7. Realise that the tyre-to-road grip is severely impaired in the rain. Cut your speed down accordingly, by as much as 40 per cent to what you would normally drive in dry conditions.
8. Following distances are always critical, but much more so in the rain. Leave a following distance of up to six car lengths between your car and the one in front.
9. If you are in an older car, or a low-budget car with narrow tyres, realise that expensive cars ahead of you will probably be able to stop much faster than you, in an emergency. In very wet conditions, narrower tyres may actually be more effective, as they don’t aquaplane (float) on standing water as easy as wide tyres do.
10. In very heavy downpours, slow down even more than usual, and switch on your hazard lamps, to warn cars coming up behind of your presence. Keep a wary eye ahead for cars slowing suddenly in front of you.
11. Never come to a complete stop on the road in a torrential downpour. The chances of a speeding car crashing into your car from behind are too great. Switch on your hazards, and slow down, then pull off the road as soon as you are able to find a safe position to do so until the rain eases and you have a reasonable forward vision once again.
Keyword: How to drive safely in the rain at night