It can‘t have escaped your attention that the nights are getting longer and the sun is slipping from the sky all the earlier. And yes, we know the clocks have gone back.
That means, for many of us, more of our daily driving routines will be conducted in the darkness in the months to come. So, here’s how to make sure your car is ready to cope with night-time motoring.
Check all lights
Might seem like an obvious one, but it’s not just about seeing down a dark road when driving, it’s also about being seen by other road users. You can check most of the lights on your car are working yourself, simply by switching them on while safely parked and then getting out, making a visual check that they’re all functioning.
This can be done for sidelights, dipped-beam lights, main-beam lights, taillights, indicators and fog lights both at the front and the back. Brake lights and reversing lights are a little harder to do and ideally, you could do with a second person to help, but if you’re struggling and still on your own, try and park safely with the rear of the car near a reflective surface, as you should be able to see if any of these lights are out by operating them and looking at the glow on the object behind your car in your rear-view mirror.
If you do notice any bulbs are blown, get them replaced at any decent motor factors. It will cost you a matter of a few euro, nothing more, and it’ll make it easier for you to see where you’re going in the dark, as well as making you more obvious to anyone else out on your route – other motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and so on.
Check the wash-wipe system
Another barrier to safe visibility at this time of year is a grotty windscreen. With grit being chucked on our roads by local authorities during winter, not to mention dirty rainwater mixed in with particulates of accumulated road driving (oils, brake dust, tyre rubber and so on), at this time of the year you’ll need to regularly be using your car’s wash-wipe system.
So, make sure that the wiper blades are in tip-top condition – and if they’re not, replace them with new items because they’re incredibly inexpensive parts on a car – and that you keep topping up the reservoir for washer fluid too.
This will be under the bonnet of your car and you need to use a mix of water with an approved washer fluid (again, from a motor factors or service station) as this will have a degree of antifreeze properties to it – ensuring you can use your wash-wipe in freezing conditions, when you’ll need them most.
There’s a bonus to ensuring a smear-free screen, too: if you find oncoming car headlights are too bright these days and dazzling, the cleaner your windscreen is, the less they’ll bother you too much. When the glass is covered in smears, it refracts the light more and creates more of a dazzling effect.
Check the tyres
These won’t be as inexpensive to replace as a blown headlight bulb or a couple of wiper blades plus some wash-wipe fluid, but they’re essential items – tyres are your car’s only point of contact with the road surface, so they need to be in excellent condition for these winter months. Badly worn or even bald tyres are a complete no-no because they will severely reduce your grip levels and make you more prone to crashes.
Also, what you don’t want to be doing in the dark is having to change a tyre, so check the pressures regularly and keep them at their optimum levels. Even if your tyres have lots of tread, if they’re significantly under- or overinflated, they’ll cause you further problems – and could even lead to a puncture. That’s something you want to avoid, especially if you’re out in the countryside on dark, narrow lanes and you need to switch over to a spare wheel, or use a puncture-repair kit, in the night.
Check the antifreeze
Connected to something we said in the wash-wipe section, those of us with petrol or diesel cars (or hybrids with internal-combustion engines) need to pay attention here – EV owners, you’re off the hook. But the cooling system for the engine itself uses a specialised mixture of distilled water (tap water is no good, it has too many chemicals and additives in it) and proper coolant antifreeze (IMPORTANT: this is different to the wash-wipe fluid and critical to the correct functioning of the car; don’t mix these up!), and if the levels are insufficient then your engine could overheat and seize.
This would not only strand you at the roadside in the dark in the event of the initial failure, in itself a risky business, but it will also end up costing you thousands of euro to replace either the engine – or the entire car itself. You need to check your coolant levels are topped up, regularly, and it’s best to do this in a well-lit area or during the (shorter) daylight hours of winter.
Check the heater system works
More for comfort than anything else, but you should ensure your car’s in-cabin climate controls/heater system works. The last thing you want is to be driving around in a vehicle at night that is only blowing out chilly air from its ventilation system. But while you might be able to put a coat on if your heating system is broken, what you won’t so easily be able to do is demist any of the windows – so while it won’t be a cheap fix, you need to get a malfunctioning climate set-up sorted out ASAP.
Put useful items in the boot
A Hi-Viz reflective jacket, a torch, a spare can of fuel (if your car is combustion-powered), blankets and even a few bottles of spare water are all handy things you can stash in your boot that can help if the worst comes to the worst, and you end up unable to continue your journey during the dark winter nights. They also won’t add too much weight to your vehicle, so that you’re needlessly using excess fuel to get around, either – so better to be safe than sorry.