Clocks fall back: drive like it's dark

Good morning, Gaftek. This is your safety minute for the week of October twenty-sixth. This Sunday, November first, at two AM, the clocks fall back one hour. The extra hour of sleep is nice, but here's the catch. On Monday, the sun sets around four twenty in Bangor and about four thirty-five down in Epsom. A lot of us will be driving home in the dark for the first time since spring, and we're not alone out there. November is the peak month for deer crashes in Maine and across the country. Deer and moose move the most at dawn and dusk, which is exactly when most of us are on the road. So five things for this week. One, lights and glass. Before you roll, walk around your truck. Headlights, taillights, wipers, washer fluid, and clean the inside of the windshield. That film is what causes glare at night. Two, slow down at dawn and dusk. Scan the shoulders. Use your high beams on back roads when nobody's coming. And remember, where there's one deer, there's usually another one right behind it. Three, if a deer jumps out, brake firmly and stay in your lane. Don't swerve. Swerving is how a fender bender turns into a rollover or a head-on. Four, watch the road surface. Wet leaves are as slick as ice, and frost hangs on in shady spots and on bridges. Give yourself more following distance. Five, phone down every time. And if you do hit an animal, get to a safe spot, hazards on, call your supervisor, and report it. Every incident, even a small one. One more thing. You may have heard that Maine passed a law to stay on daylight time all year. It only kicks in if Congress allows it, and Congress hasn't. So for now, we're still falling back. Get home safe. See you next week.