A disproportionate number of drivers involved in crashes after dark are teen and novice drivers. The reason for this, according to some reports, is fatigue-related: a lack of night-driving experience and the reduced times to react, or recovery from glare after being dazzled by bright lights.
Statistics from the Governors Highway Safety Association in the US show that young or novice drivers are three times more likely to be involved in a fatal collision between 21:00 and midnight than during daylight hours.
To reduce your risk, Ford shares the following advice:
Clean the inside of your windscreen
Smeared fingerprints and condensation on the inside of the windscreen can also compromise your view of the road ahead. External light can hit these smears and cause glare on the inside of the vehicle. So, keep a microfibre cloth handy and clean the inside of the windscreen regularly.
Use the correct lights
If you’re driving in fog, make sure you use fog lights where fitted. These work by aiming a beam of light that illuminates the area in front of your vehicle rather than projecting a beam down the road and lighting up the fog. High-beam headlights light up the fog making it impossible to see down the road.
Be sure to only use the fog lights at times of reduced visibility. Daytime running lamps are not designed to replace the function of your fog lights.
Don’t look at the light
When driving at night your eyes adjust to the dimly lit cabin and the dark road ahead. Sudden blasts of light, like the headlights of oncoming vehicles, reduce the contrast in your night vision, hindering your ability to see hazards. To avoid being dazzled, look slightly to the side of the light beam to protect your night vision.
Keep an eye out for animals
Many animals are more active at night and may also be attracted to headlights. Give yourself the best possible opportunity to slow down safely to avoid a collision.
Learn to as far down the road as your visibility and conditions allow. Spotting hazards from a distance helps ensure you’re always best prepared for what’s ahead.
What’s the range?
Low-beam headlights generally project a beam out to around 70m while high-beam headlights project out to approximately 200m.
The Ranger Raptor and upcoming Ranger Wildtrak X’s Matrix LED with glare-free high beam feature a clever high-beam boost function.
Matrix LED with glare-free high beam
Advanced Matrix LED headlights with glare-free high beam, in the case of Raptor and Wildtrak X, work with the vehicle’s forward-facing camera, to detect head- or taillights up to 800m away. When the system detects another vehicle, it turns off those LEDs.
While light is blocked from reaching the other vehicle, the high beam lighting keeps the area around that vehicle illuminated.
The system will only work under the following conditions:
- If your vehicle is travelling more than 40km/h.
- If the system detects no head- or taillights in its ‘field of vision’.
- If the glare-free high beam has been activated via SYNC, and if the ambient light is low enough that you require high beams.
Ford’s Matrix LED headlights also offer dynamic bending functionality (low beam only) which uses sensors to measure vehicle speed and steering angle to swivel the headlight up to 15 degrees. That’s enough ‘bend’ to illuminate most hairpin turns.
Source: QuickPic
