To ask how the hell to drive in the dark and rain?

[hanketypankety]

So yesterday I got caught driving home in a huge rainstorm. It was dark and I was driving along a main road but in an area surrounded by fields and no street lights. I'm embarrassed to say that I panicked and was crying in the car because I genuinely could not see a thing. To make it worse, lots of cars were either riding up my arse or overtaking me very fast. I eventually came up to an estate and pulled over to quietly have a stern word with myself to pull it together. But I guess I was just a bit overwhelmed that the majority of the traffic continued to be able to drive at the speed limit of 60 quite happily. I honestly could not see the road markings and that road often floods so no idea if and when I would hit a huge puddle and either skid off or flood my car. Any tips? Please be kind as I was genuinely frightened

I also hate this. Go slowly and if necessary pull off busy roads and wait for rain to ease off.

I have virtually stopped driving at night and never in the dark and rain together. I have found that very pale orange overglasses help a bit.

I am about to have two cataracts removed and am hoping that life will improve a bit.

I too am mind-boggled at the way some people drive in dangerous conditions - dark and heavy rain in particular - they appear to have the imagination of a gnat.

I agree its awful isnt it?

Lanmodo is one company that makes infrared cameras twinned with sat navs. Infrared cameras see through rain and darkness, so show you the road as it is.

The tech isn't perfect, but it's def better than driving when you cannot see.

I used to be like this. The Led street lights were bouncing around like strobes and I really couldn’t see and was terrified and screaming. But then I realised that I could go as slow as I needed to and learnt to just relax.
The people speeding by, well don’t worry about them.
If you do have a problem with glare from the lights it might help to get your headlights cleaned because dirty headlights can contribute to this.

www.lanmodo.com

Look at this link for tge infrared camera system.

I hate it too. I feel like I can't concentrate esp when there aren't many streetlights about. I always wind my windows down pulling out if junctions in the rain as I feel I can't judge the car distance. I'm wondering if it might be an asd trait.

i feel the same and it's always worse that first week of driving in rush hour when the clocks have gone back and adjusting to driving in the dark when it's so busy and hazards coming from every angle, it reminds me of a driving game some nights where you have to have your eyes everywhere.
Wednesday was an awful evening , howling winds and torrential rain, so many idiots cutting you up and now an extra hazard of looking out for scooters in this area too as well as the usual bikes with idiots with no lights etc!
i pulled over for a bit to get my head together and have a word with myself, some people can drive without a care in the world for anything or anyone, I'm not one of these people, we can so do this though!! So what if we drive slower and more carefully, I'd rather this than go at a speed where it's not safe.

Agree with all of the above but also make sure your windscreen is clean. This might sound obvious but I've noticed the glare from oncoming traffic is much worse if the screen is greasy.

Buy new QUALITY windscreen wipers, they do make a huge difference.

One other thing to check is if you have dry eyes and need drops. I used to be happy to drive 200 miles at night to see family, but not since my eyes became dry, but drops do help

I hate driving in the dark and the rain. I have quite sensitive eyes to glare and have a couple of pairs of anti glare yellow tinted glasses for night time. Search for night driving glasses, they just take the edge off car headlights and make it a bit easier.

I am normally a very confident driver and driving in the rain at night is usually fine but had to drive through the new forest last night in the pitch dark and rain absolutely lashing it down, I'm not ashamed to say I found it very tough going and had very poor visibility. I just took it slow and steady but it was hard going and I was definitely gripping the steering wheel more tightly than usual!

When your wipers are on do they clean the screen or leave a smear?
Decent wipers make a huge difference, I find I only ever get about a year out of a pair before they start to leave smeared water on the screen.

But drive to your own ability not everyone else's, if you crash because you're driving out of your level of experience then it is only your fault.
Some people drive like complete tools unfortunately, don't base what's safe on others driving.

Have you thought about practicing driving I'm bad conditions? Better to be prepared than get caught out like you I'd the other day.

Oncoming headlights are dazzling and it draws you eyes to them, focus on the lines, kerbs hedgerows or anything else that show you the shape and direction of the road

I hear you op. I've been driving over 20 years and I hate driving in really heavy rain, especially after aquaplaning a few years ago. If you're in a unfamiliar area and it's teeming down, it's really hard to see the road markings. I also don't like driving at night in unlit areas. My advice is don't be bullied by other drivers, slow down - this reduces the risk of aquaplaning and gives you more reaction time.

if you can't see to drive in the dark, raining or not, you should really get your eyes tested before you drive in the dark again. I used to hate driving in the dark until I got my eyes tested, got some specs and lo and behold I could see again - and I could see driving in the dark !

There is some weather where it is best to avoid driving if you can because of severely reduced visibility. I have been on the motorway and a sudden downpour as heavy as the recent rains happened and literraly everyone was crawling along at 30mph and I had my fog lights on to make sure I was as visible as possible. It was scary and if I could of pulled over I would have.

I now check forecasts and if the weather is seriously bad I will try to avoid it as much as possible.

Don't be bullied by other drivers but also please don't ignore or block them out like some may be suggesting, as then you potentially can become the hazard on the road. I was stuck on a road for about 20 miles the other night in the rain behind a car doing 30mph. There was a tailback of at least 20 cars and the driver failed to pull in to 3 different parking bays! I was about 5 cars back and some boy/girl racer was making their way up the line behind me endangering everyone desperate to get passed. I was quite worried and also a bit annoyed that the person could not at least pull in and let the traffic flow when there was 3 drive in/out laybys. I totally understand you can't drive at the speed limit but please respect other road users where possible as it can be difficult and dangerous to overtake in these conditions too. Frustration causes so many accidents unfortunately.

The rain has been horrendous where I live recently and driving in it has been really hard. I get what you mean with the road markings as well, when it is wet and dark if they are old road markings your lights don’t pick them up nearly as well due to them being a lot dirtier, so darker, than newer ones. Which is fine if you know where you are going and know which lanes you need to be in to get where you want to be but if you are somewhere unfamiliar/only been a few times it can be quite scary trying to navigate in the dark and rain.
Head up and we’ll done to you for recognising that you needed to stop to calm down. It would have been more dangerous to try and carry on driving in that state. Just ignore the other drivers that were driving recklessly.
Dont be too hard on yourself.

I get it! The rain and wind was awful where I am the other night and I was mainly on 30/40mph roads in the dark (6pm and 9pm) and the rain was pelting it down very heavyily. I was lucky in the sense that I was on main roads with street lamps and that was scary. My car is 6 years old and even I felt like the window wipers weren't keeping up with the rain to clear. I also find that other drivers and even pedestrians literally do not care and take more risks in the rain. Like others have said slow down and drive to the limit your comfortable with. You did the right thing by stopping.

Excuse me! I do dip them when anyone comes towards me. I am not a twat. You obviously can’t read properly.

Thank you x

Sigh!

You have my sympathy OP, I was once travelling on the M11 during the most horrendous rainstorm, the lines were not visible, there was about 2 inches of water sitting on the road.
Cars were following me too close, and lorries were overtaking very fast.
I was probably travelling at 30mph or less, I realised the cars behind were so close because they couldn't see, so were following my lights.
By the time we arrived home, my hands ached through holding the wheel to tightly.

I live in the New Forest and at times during heavy rain, snow, sleet, fog etc I’ve had to
crawl along at such a slow speed. On one occasion I could barely see the front of my car and certainly no road markings.
when it’s like that the best thing to do is pull over or drive extremely slow.
As for people over taking…. Let them … they have no more visibility than you and are willing to risk a smash… that’s their choice.. don’t feel intimidated to also drive like an ass.

NOT UNREASONABLE

It was so much easier when studs /‘cat’s eyes’ were on the country roads. It was a help to see the edge and centre of the road.