IAM’s head of riding standards, Peter Rodger, is advising on riding at night.

• Ensure you can always stop within the distance you can see to be clear.
• Remember everyone else is in the dark too, so try to make sure you have been seen – look for the reaction of other road users to your approach.
• Remember that everyone else has lights on too – which makes yours harder to pick out.  In traffic think about riding so that you are easy to see, and not lost amongst other lights that are behind you
• Keep your visor clean.  If it is all scratched, it’s time for a new one
• Maintain and clean your lights regularly – you need to see and be seen
• Use the all clues there are to warn you about the road ahead, the pattern of street lights, the reflections of other vehicles’ lights and where the tail lights of other vehicles go ahead of you, as examples
• On unlit roads use the light of vehicles ahead of you to see in front of them, so you get a better forward view of the road
• To avoid being dazzled by headlights, look to the left of them, rather than at them – that’s probably where you want to go anyway!
• It gets colder at night, so wrap up well and keep warm – being cold is bad for your riding

Rodger said: “Lots of riders don’t go out at night – but the roads can have less traffic on them and if you are sensible, it can be a great ride.  Remember you still have to be able to stop on the road surface you can see – whatever condition that surface is in.”