FIAT 600 - Manual (Page 76)

75
DRIVING YOUR CAR
DRIVING AT NIGHT
If you are driving at night these are
the main rules to follow.
– Drive especially carefully: it is
harder to drive at night.
– Slow down especially if the road is
not lit.
– At the first signs of sleepiness,
stop: continuing would be a risk for
yourself and everybody else. Only
start driving again when you have had
enough rest.
– Keep a greater safety distance
from the cars in front of you than dur-
ing daylight hours: it is hard to judge
how fast other cars are going when all
you can see are their lights.
– Make sure the headlight beams are
properly positioned: if they are too
low, they reduce visibility and strain
your eyes. If they are too high they
can dazzle other drivers.
– Only use main beam headlights
when you are driving outside town
and when you are sure they do not
annoy other drivers.
– Dip main-beam headlights (if on) as
soon as you see cars coming in the
other direction and pass them with
the headlights dipped.
– Keep all lights clean.
– Be careful of animals crossing the
road when driving in the country.
DRIVING IN THE RAIN
Rain and wet road surfaces spell dan-
ger.
All manoeuvres are more difficult on
a wet road because the grip of the
wheels on the tarmac is greatly re-
duced. This is why braking distances
are much longer and road-holding is
lower.
Here is some advice for driving in
the rain:
– Reduce speed and maintain a
greater safety distance from the cars
in front.
– If it is raining particularly heavily,
visibility is also reduced. In these
cases, switch on the dipped headlights
even if it is still daylight so you can be
seen more easily.
– Do not drive through puddles at
speed and hold on tightly to the wheel
if you do: a puddle taken at high speed
might cause you to lose control of the
car (“aquaplaning”).
– Move the ventilation controls to
the position for demisting the win-
dows (see
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR
CAR ), to avoid visibility problems.
– Periodically check the condition of
the windscreen wiper blades.
DRIVING IN FOG
– If the fog is thick, do not start out
on a journey unless you absolutely
have to.
If driving in mist, blanket fog or when
there is the danger of fog patches:
– keep your speed down;
– turn on the dipped headlights, rear
fog lights and front fog lights, if fitted,
even during the day. Do not drive
with your headlights at full-beam.