Drivers Should Take Extra Caution as we’re Losing Light this Time of Year

EUREKA, CA–Drivers should take extra caution to keep the roads safe, especially when we are losing light.

“People really need to slow down and be aware of their surroundings, The National Safety Council says that most accidents on the road happen at night, three times more than during the day,” Laura Montagna, PIO of the Eureka Police department said. “So it’s really now with the darker days, we need to have people slow down.” 

EPD also wants to remind drivers to always check your headlights before hitting the road.

“This is a really good time to just turn your car on, get out, walk around the front, make sure your headlights are on and somebody brake-check your lights,” Montagna said. “We don’t think of it as much when there’s daylight, but it’s a really good thing to check your headlights once a month.”

And as for pedestrians, brighter clothing while walking at night is key.

“On darker days, it’s harder to see people and not everyone wears reflective clothing so you’ve got to be extra careful as a pedestrian,” Montagna said. “Please, please look out for cars, they don’t always see you and in these darker days, it seems like the overhead lights are dimmer as well so be very careful as a pedestrian.”

This year EPD is handing out safety gear to unhoused individuals as well, to prevent any accidents on the road.

“We’ve actually given out some reflective hats to some of our unhoused people to help them be seen,” Montagna said. “We ordered many, many hats that have a reflective band and we give those out at Freemeal to unhoused people[…] we don’t want them to get hurt.”