NIGHT DRIVING
Another dangerous factor is fatigue. Drowsiness slows reaction times and because the body thinks of night as the time to rest, you may become increasingly groggy while driving at night.
Fortunately, you can take several steps to minimize the risks of driving at night. The council recommends the following:
• Prepare your vehicle for night driving. Clean headlights, tail lights, signal lights and windows at
least once a week.
• Make sure your headlights are properly aimed. Mis-aimed headlights blind other drivers and
reduce your ability to see the road.
• Reduce your speed and increase your following distance. Judging the speed and distance of other
vehicles is more difficult at night than during the day.
• Don’t overdrive your headlights. You should be able to stop in the illuminated area.
• When following another vehicle, keep your low beam headlights on so you don’t blind drivers
ahead of you.
• If an oncoming vehicle doesn’t lower its beams from high to low, avoid glare by watching the
right edge of the road and using it as your guide.
• Don’t ever drink and drive. Alcohol impairs your driving ability and also acts as a depressant that
may lead to fatigue.
• Avoid smoking while driving. Smoke’s nicotine and carbon monoxide hamper night vision.
• If you’re too tired to drive any farther, stop and rest awhile.
• Observe nighttime driving rules as soon as the sun goes down. Early evening can be one of the
most difficult times to drive.

DEER CROSSING
While November is the month with the highest risk for a vehicle-deer collision, such accidents can happen any time of the year, and the effects can be costly.
Approximately 200 people die each year from collisions with deer, and the economic cost to Americans is more than $1 billion annually. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration estimates that about 275,000 motor vehicle crashes involving an animal occurred in 2005.
Department of Transportation officials in eight states want those numbers to go down. The newly formed Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Research Center Pooled Fund Project is headed by a committee of officials from Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. The goal is to identify, prioritize and guide research aimed at reducing deer-vehicle crashes.
DOT offers the following tips to help avoid vehicle-deer collisions:
• Slow down and prepare to stop as soon as you see a deer. Stopping your vehicle is safer than
taking evasive action. Also, slow down if other cars are behaving differently.
• When you spot a deer, watch for more. Deer frequently travel in groups.
• Know that deer are nocturnal and often travel at dawn and at dusk. Many deer-vehicle crashes
occur between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m.
• When driving at night, watch for reflections from your headlights. Deer eyes may reflect the light,
and spotting the refection could give you more reaction time. Use your bright lights when no
traffic is approaching.
• For maximum safety, assume deer will cross your path.
• Do not swerve into another lane to avoid striking a deer. It is better to strike a deer than another
vehicle or a fixed object.
• If you hit a deer, call 9-1-1 and wait for assistance from law enforcement personnel.

Copyright National Safety Council, All Rights Reserved. Information and recommendations are compiled from sources believed to be reliable. The National Safety Council makes no guarantee as to and assumes no responsibility for the correctness, sufficiency or completeness of such information or recommendations. Other or additional safety measures may be required under particular circumstances

For more information on reducing risk or any of our other services, please contact Jeff Harrison at jeff.harrison@cbservices.org or 800.807.0300 ext 2543