4 Fall Driving Hazards and How to Stay Safe!
The fall has finally arrived, and with it comes cooler weather, holiday celebrations, football, and more!
It’s easy to assume that the fall is a slow, relaxed season for motorists, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The fall brings about new types of roadway hazards for drivers that can result in serious damage or injuries if you’re not prepared or educated on how to deal with them.
We here at Marcari, Russotto, Spencer & Balaban have put together a list of the top five fall driving hazards to pay attention to and how you can stay safe while out and about. Read more below!
1) Darkness:
As Daylight Savings Time ends, drivers will find themselves in the dark more and more. The National Safety Council has said that depth perception, color recognition, and peripheral vision can be compromised in the dark.
What’s even worse is that the glare of oncoming headlights can temporarily blind oncoming drivers, which can also lead to motor vehicle accidents.
It’s important to note that although only 25% of our driving occurs at night, 50% of motor vehicle accidents actually occur at night. If that’s not jarring enough, age can play a factor as well – a 50-year-old driver may need more twice as much light as a 30-year-old driver. A driver that’s over 60 may not even be able to see road signs clearly in the dark, they may have a hard time judging space, speed, and distance, and they are generally more bothered by headlight glare.
Fatal accidents are three times more likely at night compared with the daytime.
2) Leaves:
One of the most beautiful parts of the fall is the change of color in the leaves, and one of the most annoying parts of the fall is also the number of leaves.
Leaves cover your lawn, your deck, they get in your gutters, and most of all they litter the road.
These leaves can cause drivers to park off of the curb more to avoid street-side piles, they tend to create puddles and roadway flooding as they block drains, they can cause bicycle riders to veer further into the lanes of oncoming traffic and can make it quite hard to stop if they’re coating the street.
It’s best to drive slow and cautiously whenever you see yourself coming upon a smattering of leaves in the road.
3) Tires:
It’s important to make sure that your tires have enough thread for the impending weather conditions the fall brings about, as it can allow them to perform better in the rain, stop faster and steer better.
Equally as important is ensuring that you have the proper tire pressure, which can help you stay safe as well. It’s common to expect at least a 1 pound per square inch drop in tire pressure every month, regardless of temperature.
What most people fail to remember is that when the air cools in the fall, that formula accelerates.
Tires can drop one pound per square inch for every 10 degrees the temperature drops.
It’s important to use a handheld tire pressure gauge to check the tire pressure whenever your car has been sitting for two or more hours.
4) Fog & Frost:
While not commonly associated with the fall, fog and frost can certainly become hazardous in some areas.
It may be nice to feel that cool fall breeze in the morning, but it’s a lot less nice when it triggers fog and reduces your visibility, vision, and depth perception.
One key way to beat the fog is by using those handy fog lights your car came with – many people assume it’s best to use their high beams but in actuality, those make visibility far worse because the bright lights bounce off the fog and back towards your windshield.
If temperatures have been cold enough, moisture on the road can turn to ice spots, so it’s best to proceed slowly.
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