Fiat Barchetta Owner's Handbook Manual page 75

– Keep a greater safety distance from
the cars in front of you than during
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 are hard
on the eyes. If they are too high they
can dazzle other drivers.
– Only use main-beam headlights
when you are driving outside the city
and when you are sure they do not an-
noy other drivers.
– If the headlights are on full, dip
them in good time to prevent dazzling
other drivers coming in the other di-
rection.
– Keep all lights clean.
– Be careful of animals crossing the
road when driving in the country.
74
DRIVING IN THE RAIN
Rain and wet road surfaces spell dan-
ger.
All manoeuvres are more difficult on
a wet road because the friction of the
wheels on the tarmac is greatly re-
duced. This is why braking distances
are much longer and roadholding is
lower.
Here is some advice to follow if it is
raining:
– Reduce speed and keep a greater
safety distance from the cars in front.
– If it is raining particularly heavily,
visibility is also reduced. In these cas-
es, switch on the dipped headlights
even if it is still daylight so you can be
seen more clearly by other drivers.
– Do not drive through puddles at
speed and hold on tightly to the wheel:
a puddle taken at speed can make you
lose control of the car ("aquaplaning").
– Move the ventilation controls to
the position for demisting the win-
dows (see the "Getting to know your
car" section), to avoid visibility prob-
lems.
– 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 patches of fog :
– Keep the speed down.
– Turn on the dipped headlights, rear
foglights and front foglights, if fitted,
even during the day. Do not drive with
your headlights at full-beam.
IMPORTANT On stretches of
road with good visibility, switch off
your rear foglights; the brightness of
these lights could annoy the people
travelling in the cars behind.