Why Your Night Driving Logbook Hours Are Important

RECORDING NIGHT DRIVING HOURS IN YOUR LOGBOOK WILL NOT ONLY PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR DRIVING TEST, BUT WILL MAKE YOU A SAFER DRIVER.

Every learner driver needs to record 120 hours of driving in their logbook. Of these 120 hours, a minimum of 20 hours must be done at night time.
The first thing that comes to mind might be why you even need to drive at night. Becoming skilled at night driving is important because driving at night is simply — more difficult.
The most obvious difficulty is the fact that it’s harder to see. It’s easy to brush this off with a simple solution of turning your headlights on so you can see, but it isn’t quite as simple as that.
After all, P1 drivers are 6 to 7 times more likely to crash at night time.
There are less visual clues when you’re driving at night and consequently, it’s more difficult to see people, bikes and obstacles. Not only that, but the fact that there are other cars with headlights on means that you can be dazzled — reducing your focus.
Getting used to the night-time environment while driving takes some time and practice.
Here are some tips for night time driving to help you record your logbook hours safely. The last thing you want to happen is to have an accident before you even take your driving test.

Tips To Stay Safe At Night

• Make sure all your lights are working including your front, rear, brake lights and high beam
• If it’s getting dark, make sure to turn your headlights on — a good rule of thumb is to turn your lights on if street lights are on
• You must keep your headlights on low beam if a vehicle ahead of you is within 200 metres
• If you are dazzled by another car’s headlights slow down
• Fatigue is common at night so if you experience tiredness, make sure to take a break

When To Drive At Night

We wrote about tips to get your logbook hours here. One thing we discussed was creating a routine to drive consistently so you can experience constantly recording logbook hours.
This is applicable to night driving where you can make sure you go driving after dinner when it’s dark.
Of course, if this isn’t convenient for you, then you can find your own routine and a time that suits you. The most important thing you can do to improve your night driving is to simply do it.
We like to use the analogy that you can’t learn to drive a car by reading a book about it. While we can give you tips and tricks on how to stay safe, it’s up to you to put in the hours.
Being able to consistently drive at night will greatly improve your skill and confidence in night driving and you’ll be able to log the night hours required to take the driving test.
If you want to learn more about night driving, make sure to book a driving lesson  with one of LTrent’s instructors. We’re committed to making sure that you drive safely as well as educating you both in the theory and practice of night driving.

Check out our other blogs
4 Tips To Quickly Get Your Logbook Hours Up
Why You Shouldn’t You Fake Your Logbook Hours?
What’s The Best Car For A Learner Driver?