So, you are all set for the winters, thought of installing a custom fire pit in your home or fixing your home’s central heating system and even making plans to cozy up on the couch with your beloved hot chocolate and marshmallow. You might even have your heating oil provider (someone similar to romeosfuel.com, maybe?) on speed-dial just so you remain warm and toasty in the chilly season! But what about your transit plans? Driving in the winter is difficult- there is no denying that. You have to fight the cold weather and drive for longer hours, just to reach your destination on time. There is lesser light and the days become shorter with each passing month. Though it may seem like a hostile environment for driving, you can actually drive safely during winter, ensuring the safety of fellow drivers and pedestrians.
Summer has ended and now it is time that we gear up for Halloween. The long winter nights that will follow in November demand extra precautions from your side. After all, night time driving causes three times as many accidents that day time driving. Driving during winters and night time increases the chance of getting fatally hurt in an accident by 49 percent.
29 people were killed in the winter of 2014 alone. About 2,274 people were injured in accidents, 251 of whom were gravely injured because of lower visibility and harsh weather conditions. Mornings will soon be darker and evenings will quickly be colder and darker too. You should quickly get ready for the season. We talked to Grange Motors Land Rover specialists, to help you get ready for the winters. Here are their suggestions.
Longer journey times
It may sound counterintuitive to get out of the home sooner than usual but giving yourself a longer time to complete a journey is actually more beneficial in winter. At this time, you don’t want to be driving too fast. Low visibility during winter months, especially 1 hour after sunrise and in the evening, could cause fatal accidents, or at least cause fatal injuries. In order to avoid this, you should be going slower than normal and give yourself more time to complete the journey to your destination.
Your eyes also get strained more while driving in the dark. You should stop regularly to ensure that your eyes get a break. Get your eyes checked at regular intervals if you drive at night so that eyesight weakness can be quickly diagnosed and eradicated. If it is diagnosed as something more serious, like an eye disease, the driver will have to find a way to improve their vision to make sure they can continue driving. Perhaps laser eye surgery from https://sharpe-vision.com/ could be a good idea to improve vision. That should make it easier for people to drive with good eyesight.
Moreover, you may find weather conditions making a car ride more difficult that during dark. Hence, you will need a longer time on the road to reach your destination on time. This can only be possible when you are giving yourself some extra time to finish.
Drive properly
Low light is the number one reason of accidents during night driving, especially during winters. Hence, you must always keep your headlights on. Ideally, you should leave the headlights on for at least one hour after sunrise and must swath them on again an hour before sunset. Your will increase your visibility significantly upon doing so. This helps in avoiding accidents too.
You should ensure that all the lights in your car are working properly and there is no extra glare or reflection anywhere that could distract you on the road. Use anti-glare sunglasses while driving at night or during low visibility winter days to keep yourself safe. You should not use full beam unless extremely necessary. It causes problems for other drivers and may result in accidents too.
Hope these tips help you get ready for winter driving.