Driving at night with kids: the do’s and don’ts

We know that driving with babies and kids onboard can be stressful during the daylight hours, let alone at night! When they’re little they can cry a lot and they don’t like being separated from you. If you can’t see them and they can’t see you because they’re rear-facing or at night time it can add to the stress.

So what are the do’s and don’ts of driving with kids at night and what do I need to think about as a parent? Can I leave the interior lights on, can you recline the seats?

I drive at night regularly with my family onboard and have learned a thing or two over the last ten years as a mum of two, family car journalist and founder of BabyDrive.com.au. 

We know that family life is busy so we have put together this little guide of what to think about when driving at night and some cars that make it easier for families:

The first thing to consider before the car is even moving is your visibility when putting your little ones into their child seats. Well-positioned interior lights in the back are so important at night to help you see that you have properly fastened all child seat harnesses and that the child seat itself is still properly installed.

Don’t-

This might sound obvious but don’t try to install a child seat at night in the dark! I often swap test cars over at night (usually transferring the child seats across at the same time) and always redo and double-check my child seats are properly secured in daylight before I clip my children in.

Do-

Install them earlier in the day when you can clearly see what you are doing, and if you really don’t have a choice and have to do it at night then make sure you use a well-lit place to do it.

Don’t-

Trust your kids who are old enough to fasten their harnesses themselves to have done so correctly. In daylight it’s easy to look in the back and see they are properly fastened, that the straps are tight enough and aren’t twisted but in the dark you really can’t tell.

Do-

Fasten all your children’s harnesses yourself and check their child seats haven’t come undone. It’s so easy for bigger siblings to accidentally unfasten the seatbelt buckle that is holding in a child seat when doing up their own seatbelt.

It’s often colder when we travel at night, which can come with its own risks.

Don’t-

Be tempted to put little ones in thick padded jackets or a thick blanket around them underneath their child seat harness. The padding creates excess space between the child and the harness straps. In a crash, this compresses, making the harness too loose and significantly increasing the risk of injury or even them ejecting out of their seat.

Do-

Dress them in a couple of thin layers and adjust the climate control to keep them comfortable instead.

Let’s face it, most kids don’t like the dark, so when you travel with kids at night it can be scary for them.

Don’t-

Have all the interior lights on while you’re driving!

There is no law prohibiting the use of interior lighting while driving in any Australian state or territory. Nobody tell my kids that please! However, the Australian Road Rules do state that drivers must have a clear view of the road and traffic ahead, behind, and to both sides. So, in some cases your interior lights could interfere with your visibility.

Do-

Choose dim, focused or ambient lighting.

Some cars’ interior lights are dimmable or focused on one spot and many modern cars, such as the new Audi Q3, have ambient lighting that gives a soft glow throughout the cabin rather than a bright spotlight as well as giving you a rainbow of colours for the kids to choose from.

This can help some children who don’t like travelling in the dark.

I understand the temptation for bigger kids to recline the car’s seat at night when they’re tired but be careful!

Don’t-

Let kids recline their seat too far as this can cause the seatbelt to not secure them correctly. Not only is this unsafe in the event of an accident but can come with a whopping fine and demerit points.

This fits under the "improper usage or lack of seatbelt" fine across Australia and each state has a different hefty fine and demerit points.

Do-

Help bigger kids to recline their seat just a tiny bit and check their seatbelt is still fitting them properly.

You can be blinded by other vehicles’ headlights in your rear-view mirror when driving at night, especially on the highway, but it’s still an important safety device.

Don’t-

Keep getting blinded by it and have it affect your field of vision

Don’t-

Cover it or turn it away and stop using it.

Do-

Most rear-view mirrors can be dipped at night with a switch on the bottom of it so the reflections of lights are dampened.

Some vehicles have self-dimming or digital rear-view mirrors which may help drivers with night driving and indicator cameras, like those in the Hyundai Santa Fe, can help with visibility when changing lanes at night on the highway.

Don’t-

Be in a hurry to move your child out of a harnessed child seat and into a booster seat that secures the child with the car’s seatbelt, which can mean they flop out of their seatbelt when they fall asleep.

Do-

If you do a lot of night-time driving or your child is prone to falling asleep in the car, keep them in a five-point-harnessed child seat, that is the right size for them, for as long as possible as this will keep them secure in their seat when they fall asleep.

Some media screens are enormous and sit high on the dash and can be very bright, glaring and distracting when driving at night.

Don’t-

Drive with your media screen at its highest brightness setting at night. In most cases you can turn down the brightness of the screen but it can be hidden in the settings menu so you have to go in and find it or refer to the owner’s manual.

Do-

Some cars, like the Nissan X-Trail, have a night mode button conveniently located below the media screen so you can easily press to dim the brightness for night driving.

Pro tip-

Many cars will automatically dim the screen when the headlights are on, so if it seems too bright you might have simply forgotten to turn on your headlights!

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