Driving at night does everyone find it hard

Brie

Have you had your eyes checked?  I mentioned the issue of having more problems seeing easily when driving at night and the optometrist said that was due to my age and that I had the beginnings of cataracts.  Nothing to be concerned about apparently and wouldn't be expected to be a real issue for a number of years.  But it's explains why headlights seem to have a halo around them. 

The other thing I find difficult to deal with (& wonder if they are legal) is lighted billboards - the ones that are computer led boards.  So often they are incredibly bright and the blue is almost painful to look at.  I'd hate to live near one and wonder what it must be like for wildlife as well as people.  

Grumpy_chap

MikeJXE said:

sim2335 said:

elsien said:

OP, from previous threads you’ve posted, your issue is with driving generally, not just at night.
Have you taken up any of the suggestions made in your earlier threads to help with confidence etc? 

Yes, I took driving lessons and would have took more but instructor said you just need to practice you wasting your money 

did also post on other threads

so gona do the Ian course see how  I can improve on things I struggle with

What is the Ian course ?

Simple typo - IAM = Institute Advanced Motorists
Most likely auto-correct.

MikeJXE

Grumpy_chap said:

MikeJXE said:

sim2335 said:

elsien said:

OP, from previous threads you’ve posted, your issue is with driving generally, not just at night.
Have you taken up any of the suggestions made in your earlier threads to help with confidence etc? 

Yes, I took driving lessons and would have took more but instructor said you just need to practice you wasting your money 

did also post on other threads

so gona do the Ian course see how  I can improve on things I struggle with

What is the Ian course ?

Simple typo - IAM = Institute Advanced Motorists
Most likely auto-correct.

Yes In have done that, you will find it enlightening, I found the indicator use for everything  I was used to isn't necessary, according to AIM one should only indicate if it's useful to others road users, taking your foot off the brake if you are at a standstill for more than a few seconds, You may  need to do a running commentary as you drive. If you are old like me, 82 you should feel more confident if you get good marks

I wish you well and all the bast. 

venomx

I prefer driving when dark in some ways. Especially when pulling out at blind junctions as one can see lights from other motorists.

The only thing I found with dark driving is on unlit A-roads with two lanes, it can be slightly trickier to gauge the speed of a car behind you in lane 2. However with practise it all helps to become a safer, confident and more competent driver.

To the OP, if the instructor says " You are wasting your money" then you need to find another instructor.

Longwalker

In one way , your instructor is correct. You have passed your driving test so you can drive competently

I was always told, you pass a test, then you learn to drive 

I was in my 40's when I learned to drive, and driving on my own after passing the test was nerve racking to say the least. I kept my trips to those that I had learned during my lessons - they were taken in my nearest big town so I knew how to get there and knew where the car parks were and the supermarkets etc. Work was at the end of the road. Making those journeys gave me confidence so I soon started to make trips to other places. I remember the first time I went to a near by sea side town, I was fine getting there, and panicked driving through it - all one ways , traffic everywhere, so I pulled into a car park to calm my nerves a while and got back out there and took my time. I didnt cause any accidents, I didnt make any major wrong moves

Within a year I was confident enough to drive into the city. Yes I missed turnings and went round in circles, but I found the main shopping centre and car park entrance, and even now 15 years later, I know how to drive to there, the train station and bus station, still not confident driving around the city itself but can get to those places in one piece no bother

And that is really what driving is all about, learning the route, by repetition. You know how to get to work, you know how to get to town. The next route you learn is work to town.

Ive since those baby steps driven the length of the UK - Scotland to London , navigating the M25 with ease 

Do you have someone who is a confident driver you can ask to take you out driving, to make those manoeuvres that confuse you, talking you through them until you learn them?

sim2335

Longwalker said:

In one way , your instructor is correct. You have passed your driving test so you can drive competently

I was always told, you pass a test, then you learn to drive 

I was in my 40's when I learned to drive, and driving on my own after passing the test was nerve racking to say the least. I kept my trips to those that I had learned during my lessons - they were taken in my nearest big town so I knew how to get there and knew where the car parks were and the supermarkets etc. Work was at the end of the road. Making those journeys gave me confidence so I soon started to make trips to other places. I remember the first time I went to a near by sea side town, I was fine getting there, and panicked driving through it - all one ways , traffic everywhere, so I pulled into a car park to calm my nerves a while and got back out there and took my time. I didnt cause any accidents, I didnt make any major wrong moves

Within a year I was confident enough to drive into the city. Yes I missed turnings and went round in circles, but I found the main shopping centre and car park entrance, and even now 15 years later, I know how to drive to there, the train station and bus station, still not confident driving around the city itself but can get to those places in one piece no bother

And that is really what driving is all about, learning the route, by repetition. You know how to get to work, you know how to get to town. The next route you learn is work to town.

Ive since those baby steps driven the length of the UK - Scotland to London , navigating the M25 with ease 

Do you have someone who is a confident driver you can ask to take you out driving, to make those manoeuvres that confuse you, talking you through them until you learn them?

That’s problem I don’t have anyone who could help I had one person but he’s moved to diffent city

my dads a good driver but he refused to help and is not helpful when even showing me directions

I feel if I had someone and practiced hard that would be really helpful for example one day I practice with them next day or same day I just go alone 

ontheroad1970

diystarter7 said:

goldieandblackie said:

I use glasses for driving at night and have found them beneficial, but I have just purchased a new to me car that has LED headlights and these light up the road far more than my old halogen lights.

Yes, agreed, I had a c-lass my first car with LEDS all round, vast improvement but the gls - even a bigger improvement.

From what people tell me, most will have night time difficulty and worse in rain and areas new to you

How long have you been driving?  LED lights are a fairly recent addition.  There were Bi-Xenon lights before them.  

Longwalker

sim2335 said:

Longwalker said:

In one way , your instructor is correct. You have passed your driving test so you can drive competently

I was always told, you pass a test, then you learn to drive 

I was in my 40's when I learned to drive, and driving on my own after passing the test was nerve racking to say the least. I kept my trips to those that I had learned during my lessons - they were taken in my nearest big town so I knew how to get there and knew where the car parks were and the supermarkets etc. Work was at the end of the road. Making those journeys gave me confidence so I soon started to make trips to other places. I remember the first time I went to a near by sea side town, I was fine getting there, and panicked driving through it - all one ways , traffic everywhere, so I pulled into a car park to calm my nerves a while and got back out there and took my time. I didnt cause any accidents, I didnt make any major wrong moves

Within a year I was confident enough to drive into the city. Yes I missed turnings and went round in circles, but I found the main shopping centre and car park entrance, and even now 15 years later, I know how to drive to there, the train station and bus station, still not confident driving around the city itself but can get to those places in one piece no bother

And that is really what driving is all about, learning the route, by repetition. You know how to get to work, you know how to get to town. The next route you learn is work to town.

Ive since those baby steps driven the length of the UK - Scotland to London , navigating the M25 with ease 

Do you have someone who is a confident driver you can ask to take you out driving, to make those manoeuvres that confuse you, talking you through them until you learn them?

That’s problem I don’t have anyone who could help I had one person but he’s moved to diffent city

my dads a good driver but he refused to help and is not helpful when even showing me directions

I feel if I had someone and practiced hard that would be really helpful for example one day I practice with them next day or same day I just go alone 

Is there no one at work? A neighbour you are friendly with? Church? social groups? You just need to pluck up the courage to ask, people are usually willing to help if they possibly can

I used to sit alongside a lass I worked with so she could practice for her test as neither of her parents drove 

Forwandert

I've always been fine driving at night although in built up areas you do tend to be that bit more cautious for the what ifs but that's just normal for driving in certain situations.

All my driving lessons (Many years ago) where over winter and in the evening after work so I got used to driving like that pretty much straight away. Infact my test during the day felt a little weird. 

There was a couple of lessons too when there was quite a few inches of snow down and the instructor gave the option to either cancel that week or he would drive to a industrial estate and let me practise driving in snow and controlling when sliding in snow. Essentially just pulled the handbrake up when driving down the road and released it again, or doing an emegency stop and controlling the slide.

Not only great fun but also useful for the couple of days a year you're impacted, so I've never been concerned about driving in snow, the dark or a combination of either.

It definately came in handy over the years when I used to set off to work at 4/5 am and was on the roads early  before the general traffic cleared paths for cars. 

diystarter7

Hi

I need to say this and I hope it helps.

I've noted that when people constantly use climate control in their cars as you should do, some people (my kids and others i have noted) do not clear the inside of their windscreen frequently.  It makes a big difference if you regularly cleaned the inside of the windscreen, improves visibility to a small degree but reduces sun and night lights dazzled by a lot.
 Every littlte helps (got that from Tesco's, lol)