Should never have driven at night for your first time in the first place, your dad isn't very clever.
Though things like this happen to everyone, once I accidentally ran a stop sign and even though it was clear I was freaking out about how I could have got Tboned.
As for advice on driving take it slow, the real noticeable difference between pro and novice drivers is being calm and relaxed, where a new driver will slow down, turn a corner, go up to the speed limit, slow down again, go up again ect, a more experienced person wont bother to accelerate all the way to the speed limit just to slow down again (unless someone is up your ass)
Not to mention it's bad for the car and burns up petrol to do that anyway.