{"id":23384,"date":"2023-11-13T19:43:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T19:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/?p=23384"},"modified":"2026-01-21T07:58:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:58:06","slug":"nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Americans just \u201cfell back\u201d from daylight savings time this November, everyone is experiencing an earlier sunset. For many nationwide, the 6 o\u2019clock evening hour looks like the darkness of midnight. The days feel longer, time seems to be at a standstill, and the yawning is a lot more frequent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Welcome to the dark side of nighttime driving<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Driving becomes more dangerous too, as the days are shorter resulting in decreased visibility, drowsiness, and more drunk drivers on the road. In fact, an analysis of fatal car accidents proved 70% of drunk driving crashes resulting in death transpire after dark. This according to MoneyGeek\u2019s compiled data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.<\/p>\n

Driving at night affects your depth perception, compromising your ability to see objects in three dimensions. Their width, height, size, and how far these objects are from you. For instance, nighttime driving can stop you from \u201cseeing\u201d how close a stop sign is relatively to where you are. You may think you have ways to go, but in fact you\u2019ll have to hit the brakes hard for a hard stop.<\/p>\n

The National Sleep Foundation says young people are at the highest risk for drowsy driving \u2014 especially males under the age of 26; 55% \u00a0of drowsy driving crashes involve drivers under 25 years old<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Driving at night is nine times more fatal<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When taking a close look at nighttime driving, data from BTS (which is part of the Dept. of Transportation) and NHTSA says it\u2019s nine times more fatal than driving during the day. For California drivers, it\u2019s 12 times more deadly. During the months of September, October, and November, driving in the dark is 30% more dangerous and unpredictable, also when most fatal crashes happen. And if you\u2019re wondering what\u2019s the worst time to drive leading to more deadly car accidents, it\u2019s from 8 PM to 10PM.
\nSEE ALSO: MULTITASKING WHILE BEHIND THE WHEE? HERE’S HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR BRAIN!<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Color is something else that gets warped during the darker hours of the day. Nighttime driving affects how you recognize or interpret color as well as your peripheral vision. In other words, what you can see side to side, or up and down without actually moving your head. When you\u2019re behind the wheel, peripheral vision is critical. Visibility when driving at night is reduced to about 250 feet for standard headlights, and 500 feet with high-beam on. 500 feet is about the length of a 50-story building or half a cruise ship!<\/p>\n

A 50-year-old driver may need twice as much light to see as well as a 30-year-old,\u00a0 according to the American Optometric Association<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Only 9% of driving takes place from sunset to sunrise
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to MoneyGeek’s study, only 9% of driving takes place from sunset to sunrise, but 49% of deadly accidents happen at night. On the other hand, 83% of driving happens during the day, with 47% of fatal crashes happening during daylight.\u00a0As you can see, fatal crashes numbers are about the same for daytime and nighttime, but there\u2019s nine times more driving during the daylight hours.<\/p>\n

37% of deadly car accidents happen at night<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As previously mentioned in this article, September to November marks more dangerous driving. Data shows 37% of deadly car accidents happen in the dark nights of October, by November that number goes up to 69%. Florida has over 70% of an increase in fatal accidents during those three months. In fact, Texas, Maryland, Louisiana, Connecticut, Delaware, and South Carolina all have an increased risk of deadly crashes during nighttime driving.<\/p>\n

Tips to become a better driver at night<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So how do make up for the effects of darkness at night? Keep a safe distance from other cars and motorists to give you enough time to react. Dim your dashboard light to help remove reflections on your windshield; this can increase visibility. Reduce speed to increase the effectiveness of breaking and avoiding a crash.<\/p>\n

Never drink and drive, or take part in aggressive driving. Make sure you get a full night of sleep; a well-rested driver is more focused and alert. Always be aware of weather conditions as rain and snow affects conditions on the road which makes driving at night even more dangerous.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vermont has the smallest difference in night and day driving fatalities<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And don\u2019t forget, always buckle up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Americans just \u201cfell back\u201d from daylight savings time this November, everyone is experiencing an earlier sunset. For many nationwide, the 6 o\u2019clock evening hour looks like the darkness of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,9,16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-cars","7":"category-distracted-driving","8":"category-safety"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident | eTags<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Americans just \u201cfell back\u201d from daylight savings time this November, everyone is experiencing an earlier sunset. For many nationwide, the 6 o\u2019clock evening hour looks like the darkness of…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eTags - Vehicle Registration & Title Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eTagsTimeline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/etagstimeline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-13T19:43:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-21T07:58:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/email.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"361\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"146\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eTags\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/etagstweets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@eTagsTweets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eTags\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eTags\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/49fd63ec6797c062fb10b8872dce8be6\"},\"headline\":\"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-13T19:43:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-21T07:58:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":732,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Car Culture\",\"Distracted Driving\",\"Safety Behind the Wheel\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/\",\"name\":\"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident | eTags\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-13T19:43:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-21T07:58:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"eTags - Vehicle Registration & Title Services Driven By Technology\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"eTags - Vehicle Registration & Title Services Driven By Technology\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/email.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/email.gif\",\"width\":361,\"height\":146,\"caption\":\"eTags - Vehicle Registration & Title Services Driven By Technology\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/eTagsTimeline\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/eTagsTweets\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/49fd63ec6797c062fb10b8872dce8be6\",\"name\":\"eTags\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9b7db7056f653add9bff5595b34c90a3f7e8cbd022d60b614fcca28cec72734a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9b7db7056f653add9bff5595b34c90a3f7e8cbd022d60b614fcca28cec72734a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9b7db7056f653add9bff5595b34c90a3f7e8cbd022d60b614fcca28cec72734a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"eTags\"},\"description\":\"Driven by technology, eTags is revolutionizing online vehicle-related transactions while providing an unparalleled customer experience. Online vehicle registration and car tag renewal, title transfers, and more.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.etags.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/etagstimeline\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/etags\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/etagsdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.twitter.com\\\/etagstweets\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident | eTags","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident","og_description":"As Americans just \u201cfell back\u201d from daylight savings time this November, everyone is experiencing an earlier sunset. For many nationwide, the 6 o\u2019clock evening hour looks like the darkness of…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/","og_site_name":"eTags - Vehicle Registration & Title Services","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eTagsTimeline\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/etagstimeline","article_published_time":"2023-11-13T19:43:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-21T07:58:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":361,"height":146,"url":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/email.gif","type":"image\/gif"}],"author":"eTags","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/etagstweets","twitter_site":"@eTagsTweets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"eTags","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/"},"author":{"name":"eTags","@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/49fd63ec6797c062fb10b8872dce8be6"},"headline":"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident","datePublished":"2023-11-13T19:43:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-21T07:58:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/"},"wordCount":732,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Car Culture","Distracted Driving","Safety Behind the Wheel"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/","url":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/","name":"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident | eTags","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-11-13T19:43:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-21T07:58:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/nighttime-driving9-times-deadlier-accounts-for-49-of-fatal-accident\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nighttime Driving:9 Times Deadlier, Accounts For 49% Of Fatal Accident"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/","name":"eTags - Vehicle Registration & Title Services Driven By Technology","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"eTags - Vehicle Registration & Title Services Driven By Technology","url":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/email.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/email.gif","width":361,"height":146,"caption":"eTags - Vehicle Registration & Title Services Driven By Technology"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eTagsTimeline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/eTagsTweets"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/49fd63ec6797c062fb10b8872dce8be6","name":"eTags","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b7db7056f653add9bff5595b34c90a3f7e8cbd022d60b614fcca28cec72734a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b7db7056f653add9bff5595b34c90a3f7e8cbd022d60b614fcca28cec72734a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b7db7056f653add9bff5595b34c90a3f7e8cbd022d60b614fcca28cec72734a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"eTags"},"description":"Driven by technology, eTags is revolutionizing online vehicle-related transactions while providing an unparalleled customer experience. Online vehicle registration and car tag renewal, title transfers, and more.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.etags.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/etagstimeline","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/etags","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/etagsdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/etagstweets"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23384"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28434,"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23384\/revisions\/28434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}