Driving at night is inherently more dangerous than driving during the day. Your depth perception is reduced, your peripheral vision is limited, and the glare from oncoming headlights can be blinding. In fact, the fatal crash rate for teen drivers is significantly higher at night.
But night driving doesn’t have to be terrifying. Here is your survival guide to navigating the roads after dark.
Manage the Glare
When an oncoming car has bright high-beams, never look directly at their headlights. Instead, look down and to the right, focusing on the white line on the right edge of the road. This keeps your car in the lane while protecting your night vision from being temporarily blinded. Also, make sure your own windshield is perfectly clean inside and out; dirt smears and scatters light, making glare much worse.
Increase Your Following Distance
During the day, the 3-second rule is standard. At night, increase it to 4 or 5 seconds. Because your headlights only illuminate a certain distance ahead of you, you need extra time to react to debris, animals, or stopped cars that suddenly appear in your light beam.
Dim Your Dashboard
It’s not just oncoming cars that cause glare. If your dashboard lights are turned all the way up, they reflect off the inside of your windshield and ruin your ability to see into the dark. Dim your interior dashboard lights so they are just bright enough to read, and turn off interior cabin lights.
Watch for the “Glowing Eyes”
If you are driving on unlit rural or suburban roads, scan the sides of the road for small, glowing reflectors. Those are animal eyes catching your headlights. If you see them, slow down immediately and be prepared to brake.
Need practice driving in the dark? Many students only practice during the day. [Book an evening driving lesson with Forward Driving School] (Link to booking page) so you can build your nighttime confidence with a certified instructor by your side!
ARTICLE 4 (Targeting the Parent)
Publish Day: Thursday Target SEO Keywords: best first car for teen, teen car insurance costs, buying a car for teenager, safe cars for teens. Suggested URL: /blog/buying-your-teens-first-car-safety-and-costs
Title: Buying Your Teen’s First Car: Safety, Insurance, and Hidden Costs
Your teen just passed their driving test! Naturally, the next conversation is about getting them their own car. While it’s tempting to hand down the old family SUV or buy a cheap, sporty used car, the vehicle you choose will drastically impact their safety and your wallet.
Here is what parents need to know before buying a teen’s first car.
1. Bigger and Boring is Better
When it comes to teen drivers, safety trumps style. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recommends midsize cars or small SUVs. Avoid sports cars (which encourage speeding) and massive SUVs or trucks (which have high rollover risks and are harder for new drivers to maneuver). Look for vehicles with high crash-test ratings and modern safety features like automatic emergency braking and blind-spot monitoring.
2. The Insurance Reality Check
Before you fall in love with a specific car, call your insurance agent. Adding a teen driver to your policy will increase your premium, but the type of car matters. A 10-year-old Honda Civic will be significantly cheaper to insure than a brand-new Jeep Wrangler. Ask your agent for a quote on a few different models before making a purchase.
3. Avoid the “Project Car”
It might seem like a great bonding experience to buy a cheap “fixer-upper” car for your teen to work on. Don’t do it. Teens need reliable transportation, and a car with mechanical quirks can break down in dangerous situations or fail to deploy modern safety features correctly in a crash. Buy the most reliable, highly-rated used car your budget allows.
4. Set Up a “Driving Contract”
If you are buying or gifting the car, make sure your teen understands the financial responsibility. Create a contract that outlines who pays for gas, maintenance, and tickets. If they get a speeding ticket, do they lose the car keys for a month? Setting boundaries now prevents entitlement later.
Make sure they know how to drive it safely. Even if they have their license, a new car handles differently. [Book a 2-hour “New Car Familiarization” lesson] (Link to booking page) with Forward Driving School so they can get comfortable with their new vehicle’s blind spots and braking distance.
