Driving at Night and in Bad Weather

Overdriving your headlights

- Too much speed

- Stopping distance > visible distance in headlights

Dealing with glare

- Difficult to see road and surroundings

- Can occur on sunny and cloudy days, as well at night with other vehicles' headlights

- Look beyond and to the right of incoming headlights

- Assist eyes in the day with sun visor or sunglasses

Fog

- Avoid driving in it if possible

- Check forecasts

- Pull off road if visibility is incredibly poor

- Decrease speed, pay attention, and turn on low-beam lights

Rain

- Decreased tire grip (too much water can cause hydroplaning)

- Drive slowly in low visibility

- Drive on clear sections of road and avoid puddles

Flooded roads

- Avoid crossing deep water; test brakes afterward

- Spongy brakes or brakes that pull to one side need to be repaired immediately

Skids

- When one or more tires lose their grip with the road's surface

- Often happens on slippery surfaces

- To avoid, drive at a reduced speed and don't increase tire forces (braking, accelerating while steering)

- If skidding, ease off accelerator or brake, continue to steer in original direction without oversteering, gently brake when back in control

ABS systems

- Special braking system that senses speed of wheels during breaking

- Automatically reduces brake force on a wheel in danger of locking up

Threshold braking

- Generally done in a vehicle without ABS

- Brake as hard as possible until a wheel begins to lock up, then release pedal pressure to release wheel, then brake again

- Repeat until vehicle has slowed to desired speed

- Refrain from pumping brakes

Snow and whiteouts

- Look ahead and make smart driving decisions on snowy roads (e.g. slow down, avoid actions that could cause skidding)

- Do not use cruise control in snowy weather

- Check out forecasts and road reports for whiteout conditions

- Follow similar driving tips to rain and fog, but avoid pulling over or stopping on road in case of a pileup

Ice

- Be mindful of slippery road patches

- Look out for black ice

- Slow down and drive carefully in icy areas

Snow plows

- Look out for flashing blue lights

- Do not pass between a pair of plows; stay back a safe distance