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Road Safety: Night Rider
Driving during the day poses several challenges, as we all know. This could include vehicle hijackings, poor road surfaces, ill-mannered drivers and so much more. Now multiply that ten folds for driving at night. Most drivers battle with vision, especially at night and many prefer not to drive after dark, when things go bump in the night.
Driving at night can be dangerous, with lower visibility and irresponsible drivers making the roads harder to navigate safely. It’s thus important for everyone to drive carefully after the sun goes down, says Ernest North, co-founder of Naked, the artificial intelligence-driven insurance platform.
Data from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) shows that a higher proportion of fatal accidents happen at night than during the day. The RTMC’s data also reveals that the risk for fatal crashes attributed to alcohol is significantly greater at night than during the day compared to accidents attributed to speeding and all other driver risks.
“It is important to educate drivers and highlight the importance of night driving safety.
According to North, one of the major challenges is that our ability to see obstacles such as potholes, pedestrians and wildlife is compromised at night. “Our ability to judge speed and distance in the dark is worse than during the day. Non-existent or non-working streetlights and the poor state of some of our roads increase the risks.
“We also can’t underplay the role of the human element. At night, you’ll be sharing the road with a higher proportion of drunken, and fatigued drivers. They may speed or drive more aggressively because there are fewer cars on the road. Criminal activity also increases after dark. It’s much harder to see if criminals are lurking in the dark or have placed obstacles in the road to cause you to crash so they can hijack your car.”
Naked’s data shows that drivers aged below 35 tend to have a higher proportion of their accidents at night, which can be explained by their lifestyle and lack of driving experience. There are more accidents involving just one vehicle, due to factors such as driver fatigue, poor visibility and drunkenness.
“It’s interesting to note that many traditional insurers levy penalty excesses for accidents after 10pm, accidents that didn’t involve another car, and accidents from drivers that had their license for less than 12 months,” says North. “This confirms how significant these risks are — and it’s not unusual for accidents to feature all three. At Naked, however, we charge a flat excess and don’t charge penalty excesses.”
North says that law enforcement can play a major role in reducing accidents at night. Roadblocks to discourage drunk driving, patrols of crime hot spots, and checks for road traffic offenses can all help reduce accidents. “Ultimately, it’s up to each driver to take responsibility and manage the night drive risk factors that are within their control,” he adds.
“New technology and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) can also help drivers with newer cars to navigate roads more safely at night,” says North. “Examples include adaptive light control, which uses sensors to adjust to darkness without disturbing oncoming traffic, and driver drowsiness detection, which monitors the driver's behaviour to detect signs of fatigue and prompts them to take a break if needed.”
Here are some tips some tips about how to drive more safely at night:
Perhaps most importantly, be aware of your surrounds at all time. As much as you focus on the road ahead, make sure that you keep a wily eye on the rear-view mirror. Know what vehicles are behind you. And should you suspect anything, drive to the nearest police station. Be safe!
