- So we're going to continue the series of articles on night driving. Today we are going to talk about the possible causes of night traffic accidents. The beginning is possible to read - Night driving - a preface, Night driving - dazzle, oncoming trips and overtaking.
Most of the drivers who are able to perfectly control the situation on the road during the day, can not also drive at night. The fact is that they simply do not have enough experience of night driving, because driving a car day and night are absolutely different things. At the same time, experienced nighttime drivers often spend their free time during the day on anything, but not on sleeping. Justification can be anything - "no time", "do not want to sleep" and so on. You should not do that. It is necessary to observe the regime, even at night - the daytime sleep should be obligatory. Otherwise, the driver may fall asleep at the wheel and risk never waking up again.
At night, the main traffic flow on the roads is specialized vehicles and vehicles transporting oversized transportations by road. Vehicles are particularly dangerous for the transport of oversized goods - unclear outlines in the dark are often the cause of an accident.
Night lighting of the road.
Another common cause of accidents in the dark is the uneven illumination of the route. It is very difficult to determine the speed of movement: the light of lanterns and windows in houses, at a speed greater than 40 km/h, periodically appears to the driver to be moving in a strange light corridor.
Just in this corridor is the greatest danger - because the contrast between the illuminated and unlit area of the road is huge. Therefore, when a pedestrian leaves the darker area, in most cases, the driver is no longer able to do anything about it at that point, and as a result, the accident. What can be done to avoid the crash? Most importantly, the driver should stay away from dark areas that cannot be seen. You should also always compare the future braking distance at a given speed with the distance to the dark zone.
The driver should pay particular attention to sections of the track where lighting is uneven (i.e., sections of the track where there are illuminated and unlit sections of the track). On such sections of the track, the driver should strictly observe the speed limits, because in dark sections there may be pedestrians or other moving objects, and there will simply be no time left to react at high speed. In some situations, it is worth switching between a dipped beam and a high beam to see what is happening in the unlit area. Every driver should be aware that it will take at least 3 seconds for his or her eyes to see objects in the new light after entering a dark section of road. Given the fact that at 60 km/h the car drives 50 meters during this time. Do not rush if there is even the slightest chance of a crash occurring.
Night and rain.
There are many more unpleasant surprises hidden by the wet roads of the night city, and there are several reasons for this:
1. glare on a wet road blinds the driver.
2. Glare from the wet film on the car's glass prevents the driver from seeing.
3. Quite often the internal surface of the glasses of the car sweats, and it is very interfering with the driver's vision.
On the road, there are often potholes in which water accumulates and the glare can blind the drivers. It is not uncommon for a driver to be blinded by the light of a streetlamp reflected in a puddle. Naturally, in such a situation, the driver loses orientation for some time and cannot react quickly to a dangerous situation.
Pedestrians at night.
At night, the driver should pay special attention to one-way streets, especially when passing by dividing lanes, boulevards, etc. The highest probability of a traffic accident is at the exits from boulevards, gardens, parks, cinemas and other places. According to statistics, 3/4 of all pedestrian collisions occur at exits from boulevards (gardens, parks, etc.). Also, pedestrian crossings are among the places of high risk of traffic accidents. This is due to the fact that in the dark people are not able to correctly assess not only the speed of the car but also the distance to it. This is why pedestrian crashes are so common. While driving past the above-described places avtoindent.ru the driver should choose the speed of the traffic in such a way as to avoid collision with a person in any case. In addition to pedestrian crossings and boulevards, bus stops at night can also be considered dangerous. The fact is that the light from the bus cabin almost completely hides the pedestrian from the driver's view.
Another unpleasant thing is that if a pedestrian is lit by headlights, he or she has a strong belief that the driver can see him or her. A person dressed in dark flowers becomes visible about 25 meters before the car, light clothing increases the range of visibility to 35 meters, which is also a little.