WITH the onset of darker evenings, BSM is warning that inadequate driver training requirements will increase the number of accidents involving inexperienced drivers in the coming months. BSM road safety experts believe that the absence of any legal requirement for learner drivers to practice their skills at night is a major contributory factor in many winter accidents.

While responsible driver trainers do all they can to encourage their students to master the skills needed in a variety of conditions, there is no obligation on learners to have spent any time doing so before taking their test. As a result many who pass their tests in the summer months find themselves driving in conditions which are not only different but with which they are also unfamiliar.

BSM's top 10 tips for driving after dark:

* Use the correct lights. Dipped headlights should be used most of the time. Full beam can be used on unlit roads but revert to dipped lights when following another car, when there is oncoming traffic or when rounding a bend.

* Drive at a speed within which you can see and stop.

* Avoid dazzle by not staring at oncoming traffic's lights. If dazzled slow down or stop.

* Keep your windscreen clean, both inside and out.

* If your eyesight is poor, make sure you use your driving glasses.

* If you are not confident of driving after dark, plan your journey so as to keep to well-lit roads.

* With fewer reference points, distances and speed are deceptive after dark. Allow more time for you and others to manoeuvre. Take great care at junctions, on bends and when passing other cars.

* Check your lights work properly.

* It is illegal - and dangerous to others - to keep your fog lights on if visibility is more than 100 metres.

* Watch out for ice on the road.