[rustynutz]

  I posted a link to this in another thread but thought it worthy of its own....

Judging speed and distance at night can be incredibly tricky. That pin of light coming your way might be two headlights half a mile a way,
or it could be a single motorcycle just 100 yards away.
And how fast are they coming? These two videos show just how difficult it can be to judge speed and distance at night.
It also shows how a quick glance might not be enough to tell just how far away those headlights are.



ATA Associates: Night Driving: Judging Speed and Distance - YouTube

ATA Associates: Night Driving: Deceptive Headlights - YouTube


Source: Instructional Technologies, Inc. Home of Pro-TREAD Online Driver Training

[Just Rick]

Or that single headlight could be the passenger side headlight of a land-cruiser 4x4,by the time you realize it it is too late,hence the reason I personally like to check my vehicles lights daily.

Getting back to night driving,I try to avoid it as much as possible.

[rustynutz]

Getting back to night driving,I try to avoid it as much as possible.

I actually really enjoy driving at night....

[Doggie 1]

It is always hard at night. 
There is no doubt in my mind that it is harder to judge vehicle speeds at night time.
I am actually considered an "expert" witness in courts of law in Western Australia by virtue of my training and experience in this field and courts generally accept the evidence of speed estimation by expert witnesses.
Another point to watch out for is "bend syndrome" where vehicles always appear to be travelling faster than they really are when travelling towards you around a bend.
As a part of giving evidence on radar/Laser readings obtained, police officers also always give evidence of their estimation of the vehicle's speed.
This has a two-fold effect.
Firstly, it helps to validate the radar or Laser reading's accuracy and secondly, it provides an opportunity for the court to convict even if the technical aspect of the prosecution evidence in relation to the radar or Laser fails.
Police officers are trained in such a way so that if their own estimation of a vehicle's speed is not consistent with the reading obtained on an authorised speed detection device, then don't prosecute on that speed detection device's displayed reading.

[The Gonz]

True, eyewitness statements hold a lot of sway in radar camera cases, from my own expert witness experience. No point arguing that the device must be wrong, having caught wheelspoke double-Doppler or some other spurious signal when you cannot at least attest to the speed you observed on your own speedo at the time.