Mark your calendars! In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 3, 2024, Daylight Saving Time officially ends for the year. This means three things:
You get an extra hour of sleep that weekend!
You’ll spend around 15 minutes figuring out how to change your oven and microwave clocks.
The roadways are about to get a bit more hazardous.
With the sun setting an hour earlier every night after we “fall back,” we’ll be spending more hours driving in the dark through the winter months. Unfortunately, the lack of daylight creates extra driving challenges. The good news is that there’s a lot you can do to stay safe while driving in the dark.
Driving Hazards Caused by the End of Daylight Saving Time
Driving in the dark can be more difficult than daylight driving for several reasons:
Reduced visibility. It’s harder to see road signs, pedestrians, cyclists, animals, and other vehicles in the dark. And when you can’t see them, you’re more likely to hit them. Statistics show that 76% of pedestrian fatalities with a known lighting condition happen at night.
Glare from headlights. Oncoming headlights can temporarily blind drivers, especially if they are misaligned or the high beams are on. Senior divers and those with eye issues like astigmatism have an especially hard time dealing with all the visual noise from these lights in the dark.
Fatigue. An early sunset can cause drowsiness earlier in the day, which leads to slower reaction times and impaired decision-making. This applies to all drivers, so you have to keep yourself alert while also anticipating fatigue from the drivers around you.
More animals on the roads. Many animals are more active after dark. So drivers are more likely to encounter them on the roads once Daylight Saving Time ends. This is especially true in heavy-wildlife areas like Alaska.
Different weather conditions. Cooler nighttime temperatures can lead to weather-related issues like fog and mist. These can further reduce visibility and potentially make roads more slippery.
Safety Tips for Driving When Daylight Saving Time Ends
This is a good time to brush up on your nighttime driving tips across several key areas.
Area #1: Visibility
To improve visibility when the sun sets earlier:
Avoid driving toward the setting sun. Night driving may be less safe than day driving, but it’s still not as bad as driving into the sun, which makes it extra hard to see clearly. If you’re westward bound, try to leave well before or just after sunset.
Use your lights properly. Know when to use high beams vs. low beams to make sure you can see clearly and other drivers can see you.
Clear the windshield. Make sure the windshield is free from snow, ice, and bugs that could impair your visibility.
Area #2: Car Maintenance
A car that works well makes your job as a driver easier. To properly maintain your car for the end of Daylight Saving Time:
Make sure your lights work. Check your headlights, tail lights, and brake lights. They all need to be in working order so other drivers and pedestrians can spot you on the road. When a light goes out, spend a few dollars and a few minutes to replace it immediately.
Check your tires. Properly inflated tires with good grip give you more control of the vehicle. This is always important, but especially so when driving in the dark since you have less time to react to unexpected hazards on the road.
Top up your fluids. Fluids help everything in your car function more efficiently, from brakes to windshield wipers, to the engine itself. Check your fluids as part of your winter car maintenance routine.
Replace your windshield wipers as needed. New wipers clean the windshield better, which helps you see better.
Area #3: Defensive Driving
Defensive driving is about anticipating problems and proactively addressing them while you’re behind the wheel. Here are some of the best ways to practice defensive driving when Daylight Saving Time ends:
Increase your following distance. If the driver in front of you slams on their brakes, you want to be far enough back that you have time to come to a stop before hitting them.
Expect the unexpected from other drivers. Other drivers could be tired, distracted, or otherwise impaired. You can’t assume they will be as vigilant as you are. So you have to be extra careful to account for their potentially bad driving behaviors.
Adjust your driving speed. You may need to reduce your speed to give yourself more time to react to nighttime hazards.
Stay alert. Continuously scan the road ahead and check your mirrors to keep tabs on the vehicles around you. Avoid distractions that could prevent you from reacting in time. And don’t drive while drowsy. Pull over for a power nap if you have to.
Watch closely for pedestrians and cyclists. Seeing other cars in the dark is one thing. But noticing a pedestrian is much harder — especially if they’re dressed in dark clothing. You need to keep checking sidewalks, crosswalks, and even shoulders for pedestrians and cyclists.
Enroll in a Defensive Driving Course to Stay Safe on the Road
The end of Daylight Saving Time can be a rough transition, but with an online defensive driving course, you can learn to mitigate the risks of driving after dark. Then you can get back to figuring out how to reset the clocks on your appliances!
Updated 11/01/2024
