A Guide on Essentials of a Long Drive

[bblost]

You get these new atlasware vaccum flasks shaped like a regular water bottle.
Very effective.
Water stays cold for more than 18 hours.

I have not tested it with anything hot.

nice to have if driving long distance.

[andy_dog_lover]

Great Tips Technocrat!! Just loved it and would help enormously in my upcoming road trip from pune to darjeeling. Thanks a ton!!

[Swiftron]

Great write-up Techno. I follow these diligently and so far have had no problems during our highway trips.

As for the Liquid / Bar soap, i would definitely suggest a bar soap, can really help if the radiator or petrol tank cracks. Have had this horrible experience once on our Yamaha RX100 bike, the tank was cracked and we lost a lot of fuel, fortunately we got to a small town and used a bar of soap to seal it up and fill up the tank so we could safely reach home.

[Tron]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Some of the signaling techniques used on highway

a) Most of the bus\truck drivers who are going at constant speeds keep their right indicator blinking, this means that the person from behind may not need to honk & can simply overtake that bus\truck

Thanks Technocrat and everyone else for the great tips.

The line quoted above sounds counter intuitive. If they have the right turn signal blinking, wouldn't that confuse you if they are going to switch to the right lane when you try to pass them on the right? Did you mean to say that they'll have their left turn signal flashing when they are already driving in the left lane?

[Technocrat]

@Swiftron: Thanks mate nice to know it was helpful

@Tron:This is a common practice in India i.e. to give right signal\hand gesture to allow the vehicle from behind to overtake. This is applicable for highways so confusions are rare.
In this particular example, its for trucks\buses who dont take turns &\or change lanes without slowing down(in most of the cases).

[lapsi]

Carrying M-Seal, especially the wet variety, can come in handy to seal leaks.

[lapsi]

A few tips on driving on highways:

1. Avoid driving between 2am and 5/6am. Even if you have rested and are refreshed someone who has been driving all night may doze off.

2. Twilights are also extremely dangerous. The natural light is not enough and your lights do not perform. There are a couple of things which you can do. They are:
One is to depend more on the natural light.
Second is to drive carefully/slowly.

In the mornings turn off your lights at twilight and drive slowly till you get normal daylight. At nights delay switching on your lights as long as you can see with the natural light. Turn on your lights once it is sufficiently dark for your lights to perform.

3. This is for roads without dividers. For heavens sake do not overtake when the road is turning left! You cannot see oncoming traffic. And what if someone on the other side of the turn is also overtaking?

4. While we all know the speed at which we are travelling, we generally do not realise how fast we are going. As a thumb rule, when you are doing 100 kmph you are travelling about 100 feet per second, at 120 kmph you are doing about 120 feet per second. When you keep this at the back of your mind it helps to put things in perspective.

5. Keep a safe distance. Follow the three second rule. This rule says that there should be a gap of least three seconds between two cars when they pass the same spot.

You should never make the mistake of following someone too closely. You will not have enough reaction time if he slams on the brakes or crashes. If someone is following you very closely, move out of the way and let him pass.

Thats it for now.

[hvkumar]

Here is my stock of car medicines. All chosen, keeping the driver in mind - none to have a soporofic effect or leave any strong side-effects such as disorientation, etc.

Please see attached file.

[Technocrat]

Thats good list HVK

Btw I see Avil 25 which I would not recommend while driving as it induces sleep.

[determinus]

The thing about blinkers is a practice on highways. Started by long trailers to give an indication to the overtaking driver the boundaries of the trailer. So when a vehicle wants to overtake -- flash lights and/or approach the truck, truck driver switches on blinker on the overtaking side. The overtaking driver gets a clear sense of where the truck boundaries are, esp useful when it is night and trailer is long. This has been adopted into Indian highways in not-so-correct ways (keeping blinkers on is not correct. only after the vehicle starts to overtake you should switch them on).

[Ashpillai]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Thats good list HVK

Btw I see Avil 25 which I would not recommend while driving as it induces sleep.

I totally agree, am no doc but being the son of a phrmacist, I can tell you that depending upon your body weight, stress (if you are roadtripping you are under stress) and sleep deprivation, effects of Avil can range from mild drowsiness to knocking you out.

I have been using a pill called "Alerid D" instead and thankfully works ok. Let it be known that any anti allergen or anti histamine releives symtoms of allergy or cold by suppressing your nervous system in one way or another. So taking any anti allergen or anti histamine is bound to cause drowsiness, some more some less and which in who varies.

Bottom line: If you have to pop in anything like that, your co pilot takes over, if alone, park get a nap, get coffee, then move... We have even resorted regular short sprints ( works up the adrenaline levels) and "eating" coffee powder and sugar (if no coffee) to fight sleep!!!

[hvkumar]

Thanks. I stock Avil but I don't use it myself knowing its side effects. Will check out the Alerid D.

I find the best way to fix diarhoea is to have black coffee which you can get in any highway tea shop. I avoid anti-diarhoeals on the move, pop them in only during night halts, when I do have any such problems. And on occasion when I have had dental pains, used clove. And use Relispray for any body pains.

Used to drink coffee/ tea once upon a time during my night drives, but stopped nowadays - no effect.