You may have noticed that the moon is not as bright as the sun. As you cannot see as well in darkness (don’t argue—you can’t), drive more slowly and even more carefully at night than you would during the day.

Use your low beam headlights if it is raining and your high beam headlights if you are in open country or poorly lit urban areas, as long as there are no signs posted indicating it is illegal. Don’t use your high beams if it means potentially blinding other drivers, because you sort of want them to be safe, too. Even though you don’t know them personally, it’s not going to do you any good to have to maneuver quickly around a flaming wreck.

If someone else is using their high beams, just do your best to avoid looking directly into them, keeping the other vehicle in your periphery. Don’t start a high beam contest, because you might both lose, and death would be the referee. Wow, that was pretty dark.

Other things to keep in mind when driving at night:

1. You’re probably sick of hearing it at this point, but as always, be on the lookout for pedestrians and bicyclists. They should be wearing something reflective or brightly colored, but that doesn’t go with certain blouses, so they may have foregone the safety precaution. It’s a pretty sickening feeling to hear a loud thud and not be sure if you hit someone or if that was simply part of the bass line of the song you’re blasting on the radio.
2. Because motorcycles only have a single taillight, they are harder to see as well. So if you see just one taillight, you are traveling behind either a motorcycle or half of a car. Either way, by keeping a safe distance you can avoid hitting a motorcyclist or becoming embroiled in some Twilight Zone sort of situation, respectively.
3. Slow down when approaching or driving through a construction zone. Those guys are working hard to build you a better freeway, so help keep them safe, and they’ll be done sometime in the next five to ten years.
4. When you go from an area that is brightly lit to one that is dark, reduce your speed for a little while until your eyes have adjusted.
5. Keep right when you see a single headlight behind you. If it is a cyclist, they will be able to pass you, but it also won’t do any harm if it is that half-car we mentioned (or a regular car missing a headlight).