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Old 17th February 2010, 13:01   #256
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From my experience, the best time to drive is during Night

Pros
1) Outside Temp is lesser than day time temp
2) Lesser traffic
3) Thrilling

Cons
1) You need to stick to NHs and might not be able to explore SHs and Villages roads that confidently as you would be in day time, for the fear of breakdowns or getting lost.

Having said the above I dont do so much of night drives these days as I travel wth my family.
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Old 20th February 2010, 19:00   #257
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Night driving any day for the thrill and feel when the headlight sweeps the terrain. I naturally tone down rash tendencies and tend to behave more rationally while driving at night.

OT

but i used to think about those long distance transport drivers life at night.

Only these volvo airbuses appear like Death Lords on the roads. The speed and pickup of the volvo transforms the driver into a spaceship captain so no more messing with him.

I 'personally' thank the truck driver who signals me to overtake with his indicator, by honking lightly as i pass him. Many times i get a friendly 'reply' too..

Also a chat with the truck drivers in any dhaba or tea shop will get an information on road conditions.
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Old 20th February 2010, 19:27   #258
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Night driving anytime only thing is to have good headlights thats it. I guess it is easier on oneself to drive at night

This habit is probably hereditary as my father used to do the same
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Old 23rd February 2010, 13:54   #259
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Is their a choice? It has to be day driving. Night driving is absolute no-no for safety reasons.

You can't see properly, trucks, buses, tractors does not have functioning tail light, no indicators.
Pedestrians are not visible and jay walk on highways, so does the cyclists.
You cannot see the potholes, speed breakers, dead animals, a broken truck on the highway.
Concentration is poor. Everyone is in a hurry to reach their destination and respect for rules take a backseat.
Almost all drive at high beam, which is blinding. Puts strain on eyes and increases fatigue.
Their is security risk as one is not totally sure of the law and order situation en route.
In case of any emergency or breakdown, help is not easily accessible.

By elimination I would say it should be day driving. Plan, start early, take a break but drive in day.
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Old 24th February 2010, 15:52   #260
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For me it is Day- Driving, i love to start early and reach the destination before the night. I hate night driving, with the blinding lights which glare at us.
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Old 24th February 2010, 16:06   #261
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My preference anytime is a day journey, start bit early and cover as much as possible before the traffic hits.

I feel much more controlled, as everything is clear during the daytimes, lights from opposite vehicles leave you blind sometimes in night, almost everyone uses high beam and don't bother to lower it down as well.
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Old 27th February 2010, 00:13   #262
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jawanak View Post
Is their a choice? It has to be day driving. Night driving is absolute no-no for safety reasons.

You can't see properly, trucks, buses, tractors does not have functioning tail light, no indicators.
Pedestrians are not visible and jay walk on highways, so does the cyclists.
You cannot see the potholes, speed breakers, dead animals, a broken truck on the highway.
Concentration is poor. Everyone is in a hurry to reach their destination and respect for rules take a backseat.
Almost all drive at high beam, which is blinding. Puts strain on eyes and increases fatigue.
Their is security risk as one is not totally sure of the law and order situation en route.
In case of any emergency or breakdown, help is not easily accessible.

By elimination I would say it should be day driving. Plan, start early, take a break but drive in day.
You're talking about evening driving. We're talking about starting the drive at midnight or morning at 02:00 am. On our national highways, almost all your reasons are invalidated.
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Old 5th March 2010, 08:07   #263
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Day or night I love Driving

on a serious note,I love driving @ night just because of the less traffic ,two wheelers and no Honking...
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Old 11th March 2010, 10:59   #264
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Ni Driving

An obvious advantage of night driving is that you reach your destination before the heavy city traffic gets on road..Depart early morning....maybe 0430 or 0500 ..all ni busses have nearly reached thier destinations, and truckers take a break for thier morning ablutions...road is relatively empty..
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Old 12th March 2010, 05:47   #265
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I prefer day driving because of one thing - Non-cooperative drivers who don't switch to low-beam when you do for them. Otherwise night driving is fine by me.
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Old 17th March 2010, 21:17   #266
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Last weekend, I drove during night twice. One was early morning at 4 AM and the other was late night at 12 PM. On both occasions I found driving to be easier compared to day driving but for one exception.

Unmarked humps!!!

The high beam from oncoming traffic coupled with lack of proper lighting on the road makes it very difficult to find unmarked humps. Sometimes I mistook shadows of poles as humps. And at other times, had to screech to halt from a speed of ~80 KMPH. After the second time, my 4 year old son woke up and gave me lessons on safe driving.

How does one handle unmarked humps during night driving?
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Old 17th March 2010, 22:07   #267
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sbraj View Post
How does one handle unmarked humps during night driving?
HIDs . Hey I did not say that !! I too faced this, but wait a minute, not on the highways, but right here on BG road after HSBC. I agree all speed breakers should be well marked. There are a few with reflectors but very few.

EDIT: Check this for more info.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ngs-signs.html

Last edited by prince_pervez : 17th March 2010 at 22:09.
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Old 19th March 2010, 08:27   #268
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sbraj, I've never faced your particular problem. Most of the highways I've driven on have humps only near toll booths. All curves and intersections have reflectors that are visible atleast 500 mts away. Can you tell me which highway you noted the humps? Or were they potholes?
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Old 19th March 2010, 09:16   #269
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sbraj View Post
Last weekend, I drove during night twice. One was early morning at 4 AM and the other was late night at 12 PM. On both occasions I found driving to be easier compared to day driving but for one exception.

Unmarked humps!!!

The high beam from oncoming traffic coupled with lack of proper lighting on the road makes it very difficult to find unmarked humps. Sometimes I mistook shadows of poles as humps. And at other times, had to screech to halt from a speed of ~80 KMPH. After the second time, my 4 year old son woke up and gave me lessons on safe driving.

How does one handle unmarked humps during night driving?
Keep an eye on the brake lights of the vehicles ahead of you. Slow down if you see them brake. Be extra alert at probable spots like start or end of villages, cross roads, intersections, end of a curvy slope etc.

Were you driving inside the city? Becuase high beam is useless on half lit roads. It is usually a bit easier to spot bumps on highways.
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Old 19th March 2010, 10:21   #270
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bullinb View Post
Keep an eye on the brake lights of the vehicles ahead of you. Slow down if you see them brake. Be extra alert at probable spots like start or end of villages, cross roads, intersections, end of a curvy slope etc.
That is exactly what I was doing till I lost my pilot vehicle.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bullinb View Post
Were you driving inside the city? Becuase high beam is useless on half lit roads. It is usually a bit easier to spot bumps on highways.
Will HID lamps help on highways? I have a Getz and the high beam is a joke in that. It will hardly lit 50 meters ahead. I am now seriously considering upgrading to HID.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wildsdi5530 View Post
sbraj, I've never faced your particular problem. Most of the highways I've driven on have humps only near toll booths. All curves and intersections have reflectors that are visible atleast 500 mts away. Can you tell me which highway you noted the humps? Or were they potholes?
I was driving on SH17 from Bangalore to Mysore at around 4 AM. As I said, I was using a Palio in front of me as a pilot. But after some time, I was own my own as this Palio guy pulled over. Then I encountered these two humps between Mandya and Srirangapatna.

On the reverse direction, there is one unmarked hump near Bidadi and another near BHEL circle.

I have not faced this problem on NH7, NH47 where I frequently do night drives. Roads in TN have well marked humps. Roads in KL always have other vehicles which can be used as pilot. It is the KA roads that are mainly the problematic ones.
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