Many people already know that driving at night can often be more dangerous than driving during the day. Not everyone realizes how many dangers play into what makes driving at night so risky. Understanding some of these dangers might help you avoid car accidents at night. However, if you were in an accident, consider asking a Kansas City auto accident lawyer for help.
Types of Driving Dangers at Night
There are multiple driving dangers at night that can increase the chances of a car accident. Darkness is the most well-known danger at night due to the way vision is affected. Vision is impacted in more than one way in dim or dark areas.
Rush Hour
In larger cities, rush hour tends to happen in the late evenings, often when it becomes dark. Crowded roads with traffic and pedestrians alone can increase the chances of a mistake. Driving in the dark and with busy traffic can increase car accidents even more. Be extra cautious when driving in busy traffic at night.
Drunk Driving
Drunk driving is also more common at night. Most people consume alcohol and other drugs in the evening. This increases the chances of sharing the road with drugged drivers when driving at night. Be wary of drivers who are swerving or shifting outside their lane at night. Maintain a safe distance from them until you can pass or take a route away from them.
Drowsy Driving
The same goes for drowsy drivers. Sleep-deprived drivers are more common in the late evening hours when they are driving back home. Falling asleep at the wheel leads to thousands of car accidents each year. Driving can still be dangerous without falling asleep at the wheel when the driver is losing focus, swerving, or not reacting in time to changes on the road.
How Night Impairs Vision
Vision is impacted in multiple ways when driving at night. Learning about how nighttime driving impairs vision might help you avoid accidents in the future by driving with increased awareness. For one, darkness makes it significantly harder to visually see objects, other drivers, and pedestrians on the road.
Not being able to see objects that are in the dark limits drivers to only seeing what their headlights and the streetlights reveal. At the same time, trying to accurately see distant objects becomes difficult. Judging distance from objects also becomes challenging and can easily lead to accidents.
These limitations work together to create problems with reaction time. It is much harder to react in enough time to avoid a collision if the driver misjudges the distance. Collisions also happen when drivers see the object at the last minute and do not have enough time to stop. Consider contacting a Kansas City car accident lawyer if you were in an accident.