5 things to do to ensure visibility when driving at night

Spend a few minutes checking the lights, cleaning the glass surfaces, adjusting the rearview mirrors before hitting the road... to help drivers avoid limited visibility, ensuring safety when driving at night.

Driving at night is always a challenge when visibility is limited.

Driving at night is considered a challenge not only for “new drivers” but also for “old drivers” with many years of experience, due to limited vision, the body easily falls into a state of fatigue. The following notes will help drivers ensure safety when driving at night:

Check lighting system

Headlights are essential active safety devices that help drivers see when driving at night or in bad weather. Problems such as burnt out bulbs, dim lights or misaligned light angles always make it difficult for drivers to drive at night. Therefore, before each trip, drivers should take the time to check the operation of the lighting system.

To check the headlights, turn on the light switch, switch between high beam (pha) and low beam (cot) modes. Make sure the lights are still working normally in high beam and low beam modes. You should prepare spare bulbs and tools in the car to replace them, in case the lights suddenly burn out while driving. For cars that do not support the automatic headlight angle adjustment function, the driver should pay attention to re-adjusting the light angle to ensure visibility.

In addition, you should step on the brake and ask someone to help you observe and check the operation of the brake light system. If you find any damage or one of the brake lights does not light up, you should take the car to the garage for replacement. Because if the brake lights do not work, it is easy to cause a rear-end collision when driving at night. In addition, you should pay attention to checking the turn signal lights, this type of light operates in a flashing state at a certain frequency. If you find signs of damage to the light (flashing too fast or too slow compared to normal), you need to repair it promptly.

Cleaning the headlight surface

To ensure the lighting ability of the lighting system, pay attention to cleaning the surface of the lamp clusters. If the outer surface of the lamp is blurred, use water or glass cleaner to wipe away the dirt that causes the lamp to be blurred. In fact, in areas with high humidity, after washing the car, a layer of moisture can be created inside the glass of the lamp, causing the lamp to be blurred. At this time, it is necessary to turn on the lamp or use a suitable device to dry it until this layer of mist disappears.

With the weather conditions in Vietnam, the surface of the headlight cluster on some car models often turns yellow after a period of use. In addition to cleaning solutions, the simplest way for users to remove yellow stains is to use toothpaste. Use a clean cloth to rub the toothpaste evenly over the entire glass surface, then rinse the glass with water and wipe dry.

Clean glass surfaces

In addition to the lighting system, drivers should pay attention to cleaning the front and rear windshields as well as the side windows to ensure visibility when driving at night.

Use glass cleaner and a clean cloth to wipe the glass surfaces. Be careful not to leave streaks on the glass, as this will obstruct the driver's vision. In addition, check the windshield wipers and rearview mirrors. Turn on the wiper switch, and when the system is running, if the wiper blades are not clean on the driver's field of vision, clean the wiper blades. Be careful not to use detergents such as washing powder to clean the wiper blades as this may cause the rubber wiper blades to deteriorate. After cleaning, if you still see streaks on the glass surface, replace the wiper blades.

Adjust rearview mirrors properly

Drivers should also pay attention to adjusting the rearview mirrors to cover the field of vision while avoiding glare from the lights reflected from other vehicles. With the side mirrors, depending on the size and viewing angle, the driver should adjust them so that they can see the left and right corners behind the vehicle. With the interior rearview mirror of the vehicle, if the vehicles behind are approaching and have their headlights on, causing glare, the driver should push the small lever behind the mirror to switch to anti-glare mode.

In addition, the brightness of the central dashboard should be adjusted. Ensure the light is bright enough for the driver to easily observe the parameters when the vehicle is operating. Do not adjust the brightness too high because it will cause discomfort to the driver's eyes.

Avoid looking directly into the headlights of oncoming vehicles.

In fact, some drivers still lack awareness in using headlights when driving at night, affecting the visibility of drivers of oncoming vehicles and easily causing accidents.

In these situations, drivers should not look directly into the headlights of oncoming vehicles to avoid being blinded. Gradually reduce speed, pay attention to the road or look diagonally towards the side of the road to ensure safety.

In addition, when driving at night, drivers should maintain concentration and not try to drive while drowsy because it can be dangerous.

According to TNO