• Know the Risks
    • Teen Driver Risks
      • Distracted Driving
      • Nighttime and Drowsy Driving
      • Speeding and Street Racing
      • Low Safety Belt Use
      • Impaired Driving
    • Teen Passenger Risks
      • Keep the Driver Distraction Free
      • Help Keep the Driver Alert and Awake at Night
      • Know Why Speeding is Dangerous and Reckless
      • Always Wear a Seat Belt
      • Steer Clear of Impaired Drivers
    • Respect the Rig Truck and Bus Safety
      • Big Rig Events
    • Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety
    • External Links and Resources
  • Be Involved
    • Learn How to Start TDS
    • Sign Up Your School / Request Virtual Access
    • Teens in the Driver Seat Junior High
    • Teens in the Driver Seat in Georgia
    • Connect With Us
  • Take Action
    • See and Share Videos
    • Teen Advisory Board
      • Teen Advisory Board Application
    • Extra Mile Senior Activity
    • President’s Volunteer Service Award
    • Big Rig Events
    • Take the Pledge to Keep Our Drive Alive
    • #BeTheChange with Tyson Dever
    • Find Speakers and Educators
    • You in the Driver Seat App
  • Events & Contests
    • Events Calendar
    • April Contest for App Users
    • Driving the Message Contest
    • Youth Transportation Safety Summit
    • Georgia Safe Driving Summit
    • Partner Contests
  • Program Schools
    • Event / Activity Form for All-Star Points
    • School Code and Rep Lookup
    • All-Star Reward Program
      • TDS All-Stars Leaderboard
      • School Tracker Dashboard
      • All-Stars Distractions Unit
      • All-Stars Nighttime Driving Unit
      • All-Stars Speeding Unit
      • All-Stars Seat Belts Unit
      • All-Stars Impaired Unit
      • All-Stars Share the Road Unit
    • Get Activity Ideas
    • Zero Hero
    • Download Activity Items, Posters, and More
    • TDS Resource Request Form
  • About Us
    • News
    • Contact Us
    • Where We Are and Your Regional Representative
    • Partners
    • Private Partnering Opportunities
    • Donate
    • History and Recognition
    • 20 Year Report Card

Teens in the Driver Seat

A peer-to-peer safe driving program for your school.

Follow us @teensdriverseat

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

August 4, 2023

Are You Scared of the Dark Games

 
Games to discuss nighttime driving facts. The first team that completes the game wins.

There are several renditions of this – pick the one that you like best!

 Items Needed

  • Two teams of students
  • Two areas – one dark and one lit, or 1 area and take turns
  • A flashlight
  • Items that can be placed around the room or in a box pertaining to nighttime driving. This can be ‘night’ objects (a bat, pillow, toothbrush, etc.), printed pictures, TDS items, or whatever you decide.
  • Invisible ink pens with lights (option 3 below).

 Steps

  1. Divide into 2 teams. One team will be finding objects placed in the “day” (lights on) and one will be finding items at “night” (lights off).
  2. Place items around the area while the teams are not looking.
  3. Let one team search for the items for 30 seconds in the “dark” with lights off, using a flashlight.
  4. Count how many items they found.
  5. Replace the items.
  6. Give the second team 30 seconds to find items with the lights on.
  7. Count how many items they found.
  8. Announce the winner and discuss the difficulty of ‘nighttime’ searching vs. ‘daytime’. Relate it to driving.
    1. Did the team members bump into any objects or other people when searching?
  9. Post photos of your activity on your social media channels to further promote the message of safe driving and tag @teensdriverseat so we can see your great work, too.
  10. Submit an online activity form at t-driver.com to get credit for your efforts.

Option 2:

You can also do this with boxes. You will need two identical sets of items. Place one set of items in a shallow box for one team, and one set in a deep, dark box. Call out an item and have teams race to see who can locate the item first. You can do this for several rounds then discuss how much more difficult it is to find the items in the deep box because of poor visibility. Relate this to driving and talk about how you can assist the driver at nighttime by keeping your eyes open and being alert.

Option 3:

Using an invisible ink pen, write nighttime driving safety questions on sheets of paper and answers on other pieces of paper. Give each team a blue light (on the provided pens) and teams must match the correct answers to the questions using the lights. The first team who answers all correctly wins.

Don’t Forget

The goal of this activity is to encourage your peers to remember nighttime driving is dangerous, especially in unlit, rural areas. Get lots of nighttime driving practice, avoid drowsy driving, and drive slower and always distraction free. Find more nighttime driving information and facts.

 Make it GREAT

  • Conduct this activity during the Nighttime Driving Risk Unit.
  • Celebrate the winners by awarding them night glow sticks.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Article by Stacey Tisdale / High School Activities, Nighttime Driving Activity

More Ways for Teens to Be Involved

  • Teen Advisory Board
  • Extra Mile! Senior Activity
  • You in the Driver Seat Safe Driving App
  • Teen of the Month
  • Driving the Message Poster & Video Contest
  • Take the Pledge to Keep Our Drive Alive
  • Safe Driving Summit

Copyright © 2025 Texas A&M Transportation Institute

All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.
Comments, suggestions or queries? Contact Us!


Youth Transportation Safety Program
c/o Texas A&M Transportation Institute
1100 NW Loop 410, Ste 605, San Antonio, TX 78213-2255
Ph: (210) 979-9411
Fax: (210) 321-1299

TTI Logo

Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3135
Ph: (979) 845-9008
Fax: (979) 845-9848

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print