Driving With Limited Visibility

Vision, Glare, and Cab Setup for Night Driving

Drivers face a greater crash risk at night because they cannot see hazards as quickly as they can in daylight. Good vision is critical for safe commercial driving because your control of the brake, accelerator, and steering depends directly on what you see. For this reason, drivers should have their eyes checked regularly by an eye specialist to catch any vision changes early.

Your eyewear choices play a major role in how well you see the roadway after sunset. You must never wear sunglasses at night, and you should avoid using dark or tinted corrective lenses at night. Tinted lenses cut down the light needed to see clearly during night driving. Any eyeglasses worn for night driving must be completely clean and unscratched to prevent light distortion.

Glare from bright lights can blind a driver for several seconds, creating severe hazards. Even two seconds of glare blindness can be dangerous. Consider the physics involved: a vehicle traveling at 55 mph covers more than half the distance of a football field in just two seconds. Dirt on vehicle glass worsens this danger. At night, bright lights can cause dirt on a windshield or mirrors to create glare that blocks your view, so the windshield must be cleaned on both the inside and outside.

Managing light inside your cab also protects your night vision. The cab interior light must be kept off while driving at night to maintain visibility outside. Additionally, instrument panel lights should be adjusted as low as possible while still allowing you to read your gauges clearly.