Night Driving Twice As Dangerous, Experts Say

It probably comes as no surprise to hear that there is a greater risk of fatigue-induced accidents at night, especially between midnight and 6 a.m.

In fact, according to the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, driving at night is about twice as dangerous as driving during the day.

After-Dark Crashes

In addition to being more frequent, after-dark crashes also tend to be more severe. The statistics speak for themselves:

• One study reports about 435 injuries per 1,000 crashes between midnight and 6 a.m., compared with 320 for the remainder of the day.


• There are about three times as many fatalities per 1,000 crashes from midnight to 6 a.m. 

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Have your employees teach themselves defensive driving techniques with BLR’s Interactive CD Course: Defensive Driving. Completely self-contained and usable anywhere. Try it at no cost or risk. Find out more.

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Why Is Night Driving More Dangerous?

• 
  You are more likely to be sleepy—even if you’ve slept during the day. Humans are wired for nighttime sleeping.


• Your vision isn’t as good at night. Your depth perception, peripheral vision, and color recognition are not as good in the dark.


• Night vision is affected by age. Many older drivers generally need more light to see than younger drivers.

Night Driving Safety Tips

• 
  Start taking precautions as soon as the sun goes down. Dusk is one of the most dangerous times of day on the road.


• Slow down and increase your following distance. Darkness makes judging distances harder.


• Don’t overdrive your headlights. You need to see this far in order to be able to slow and stop safely when necessary.


• Don’t be blinded by oncoming headlights. Shift your eyes momentarily to the right side of road and use the white lines to guide your steering.

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Try BLR’s Interactive CD Course: Defensive Driving at no cost or risk. Get the details.

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Safe Driving the BLR Way

Driving after dark, of course, is only one of the many risks your employees face on the road. A solid defensive driving training program can teach your workers what they need to know about driving safely at night or anytime.
 
To accomplish this training both quickly and effectively, we’d like to bring BLR’s Interactive CD Course: Defensive Driving to your attention . It’s a hands-off, 50-slide audio presentation that:

• 
  Defines defensive driving and demonstrates its characteristics


• Demonstrates the characteristics of driving defensively, such as the   "2-second rule"


• Focuses on handling dangerous conditions such as winter driving, poor lighting, or heavy rush-hour traffic


• Warns against engaging with aggressive drivers in incidents of road rage


• Explains the effects of alcohol and sleep deprivation on driving


• Emphasizes the importance of following the company’s safe driving policy

The course is perfect for all employees, but is especially useful for your vehicle drivers. Because your drivers are likely in and out on varied schedules, the program is completely self-directed. It can be used anywhere there’s a computer and whether or not you are present.

Motivation is built-in through a wide variety of interactive features that have your drivers doing "hands-on" tasks that make learning interesting. Built-in quick quizzes block progress until the material is learned. When it is, the program prints out a completion certificate. We’ve seen very few safe-driver training programs as engaging and effective as this one.

You can see for yourself how well BLR’s Interactive CD Course: Defensive Driving works as we’ve arranged for Advisor readers to evaluate the program at no cost or risk for up to 30 days so you can try it with some of your own "road warriors." Please let us know and we’ll be happy to set things up.

 

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