Nighttime DrivingPhysics and Facts of Nighttime Driving
- The most important sense in driving is vision.
- It's a proven fact that drivers of all ages have a reduced ability to see clearly at night, distinguish objects and judge distances.
- Conversely, tests show people think they can see a lot better than they actually can—this leads to driver overconfidence on the road.
- Low beam headlights at night illuminate, on average, 160 feet ahead. At 60
MPH a vehicle covers 88 feet per second. A driver without iZon Lenses needs
1.5 seconds to react and a full 4.5 seconds or 270 feet to come to a stop.
Slick roads, curving or mountainous terrain and driving at a greater rate of
speed all increase the required stopping time.
Learn more important facts about Perception/Response - Older drivers, age 60 to 75, have about double the reaction time of younger drivers, age 18 to 30. With the aging of the baby boomers, the number of older drivers is increasing dramatically.
- When you are using low beams, the location of the target across the roadway greatly affects seeing distance. In this situation, the best position to be in is at the right edge of the lane. Seeing distance weakens as the target position is moved to the left of the approaching driver.
