What precautions should you take when driving on the highway at night?

Therefore, to ensure safety, in addition to obeying traffic laws, drivers must also be equipped with sufficient knowledge and driving skills, and check the safety of their vehicles before driving.

Check the fuel and tires.

The first thing to do before driving on the highway at night is to check the condition of your vehicle. This is especially important on long highways with no rest stops or no streetlights.

Specifically, the most basic things a car needs to ensure are sufficient fuel for the entire highway journey, and that the rearview mirrors and headlights are working properly. In addition, drivers should also check and ensure the tire pressure is at the correct level…

Drive at the correct speed and maintain a safe distance.

Visibility at night is not as good as during the day, especially in areas without streetlights. Therefore, when driving on highways at night, drivers should slow down, staying within the illuminated area of ​​the headlights and not exceeding the speed limit.

In addition, it is advisable to increase the safe distance from the vehicles in front to allow drivers sufficient time to react in case of unexpected situations. Many drivers nowadays commonly apply the safe distance rule as stipulated in Circular 31/2019/TT-BGTVT.

Accordingly, the safe distance between two vehicles when participating in traffic, corresponding to each vehicle speed, is as follows: For a car traveling at 60 km/hour, the minimum safe distance is 35 meters.

When driving at speeds between 60 and 80 km/h, the minimum safe distance is 55 meters.

When driving at speeds above 80-100 km/h, the minimum safe distance is 70 meters.

When driving at speeds above 100-120 km/h, the minimum safe distance is 100 meters.

However, this rule applies under normal driving conditions. When driving on the highway at night, it is best for drivers to increase the distance further.

Do not stop along the way if necessary.

Except in unavoidable circumstances such as vehicle breakdowns, malfunctions due to running out of fuel, engine failure, or tire changes; driver health problems; traffic accidents; or other emergencies, drivers should ideally avoid stopping on the highway.

For situations requiring a stop on the highway, as described above, drivers should pay attention to safety procedures. First, if the vehicle malfunctions or the driver experiences a health issue preventing them from continuing to drive, they should turn on the hazard warning lights (red triangle symbol on the dashboard) to signal other vehicles. Then, slowly steer the vehicle to the right lane.

Pay close attention and avoid stopping at blind spots or sharp turns. Instead, choose straight stretches of road with a wide field of view so that other vehicles can easily see you. Most highways in Vietnam are designed with sections allowing emergency stopping and have signs indicating the distance to the emergency lane.

After stopping in the emergency lane, keep your hazard lights on to signal to vehicles behind you. Then, engage the parking brake to prevent the vehicle from rolling down the road. According to experienced drivers, when stopping, steer the front of the vehicle to the right to avoid being hit by another vehicle and veering onto the main road. Also, place a reflective sign at least 50 meters away from the vehicle to warn of danger, especially when stopping at night.

After stopping the vehicle, absolutely do not stand in the rear area, and evacuate passengers to a safe location to avoid collisions that could cause casualties. Quickly contact a tow truck or call the highway management authority for assistance with repairs or moving the vehicle from the area as soon as possible.

Never drive in the emergency lane.

On highways, accidents involving vehicles are unavoidable, forcing drivers to stop in the emergency lane. These are hazards on highways, especially at night when visibility is limited.

Therefore, when driving on the highway, whether day or night, absolutely do not use this lane. Many vehicles in Vietnam today, when experiencing problems on the highway, do not have warning signs beforehand, causing many unfortunate accidents due to collisions with vehicles traveling in the same direction.

Turn off the entertainment screen.

In-car entertainment screens can be dazzling and distracting to the driver, and driving at high speeds on highways with few streetlights makes the light from the central screen even more irritating. Therefore, when driving on highways in areas without streetlights, it's best to turn the screen off completely.

If it cannot be turned off, you can choose night mode or adjust the screen brightness to the best possible level. This helps the driver focus fully on the road ahead, allowing them to react promptly to dangerous situations.

Stop and rest if you feel sleepy.

Drowsiness is considered the biggest danger when driving at night. Therefore, if you feel sleepy or tired while driving, you should find a rest stop on the highway, take a short nap to regain alertness, and then continue driving.

It's a good idea to carry a reflective warning sign to use if you have to pull over in the emergency lane because you're too sleepy to continue driving.