[mmxylorider]

That is the time frame with max vehicles on the streets. People getting home, running errands, kids getting transported, street vendors setting up shop. All of this means more reason to cut corners in a heavy traffic and more scope for accidents. Add to it non-functioning tail lights, low visibility and high beams hitting you full on.
Personally, I've preferred night drives for long distances. Traffic density is less and it's safe if you are well rested.

[kotirajendra]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Well, that is true because this is typically the time one sees the maximum vehicles on the road. But severity of the incidents need not be high in this time band.



Having worked shifts many years of my life, I can safely say that the mind is the least alert between 2:30 and 5 in the morning .

This is the time the worst accidents can happen.

Examples of some gruesome accidents :

1. the Kerala RTC Volvo incident in Feb 2020 ,

2. a bus - chemical tanker accident cum fire near Bharuch on 04 Nov 2019 ( I passed the spot at 9:45 am after a huge traffic hold up for 2 hours and know how bad it was), and

3. another Pune - Ahmedabad Volvo incident in 2014

If this NCRB data is to be used for analysis, high severity incidents should be the ones to deep-dive into.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy
Chernobyl.

As a rule, I start early like 5:00 AM stop by 4:30 PM.

[vinair]

A bit off topic but believe its also to do with our culture to some extent. I have been in vehicles (private and taxi) who have refused to switch on headlights say around 5-5:30 evening when its relatively dark (at least in winters). Reason? its not 6 yet. Will switch on headlights only after 6 PM!!

Now, its also true that a lot of drivers do not switch on headlights unless its really dark! Switching on headlights early is considered you are a newbie or someone who is still not comfortable with the machine yet!!

[gulerianeeraj]

Actually if you look at it both Dusk (From 1800H-2100H) and Dawn (0300H-0600H) are considered dangerous for driving. Somebody who is on a long drive is most vulnerable during this time (My personal experience) due to following reasons
1. Change of light hence eyes adjusting to the same.
2. People moving after work to their respective houses in the eve.
3. Highway hypnosis for long drivers.
4. Sleepy truck drivers in the mornings.
5. Ill Mannered highway driving and not knowing when to switch on Headlights.
6. Cattle’s do move to their respective places in Dusk and Dawn. Doing so they can jump anywhere without driver realising it. I had an Incident where bunch of Cattle were sitting on Highway (Jaipur-Ajmer) right after a sharp turn. It becomes particularly dangerous during dusk and dawn
7. High beam

Some Remedies purely out of experience
1. If you’re driving for long take a break for sometime and let your eyes adjust to light around.
2. Drive at slower Speed as per authorised lane.
3. Follow Lane discipline. And do not make unnecessary overtakes.
4. Whenever Road changes (say from One way to Four lane to six lane and vice versa) do read the change in speed of the environment. One can not drive at similar speeds when compared to a hilly section and an open road.
Regards

[sharan_si]

Agree, One more reason not to start travel around this time is, Lot of Private busses for long-distance start around this time, and most of them drive recklessly. Few times I drove around this time from Bangalore on Bangalore Hyderabad-Highway. I could see many Volvo buses not applying brakes even at the place where they kept Barricades.
Also, around 6 to 7 pm few local people drive on the wrong side of the highway and many without lights on!

[redswift]

I think there could be another reason that contributes to this statistics.
This timeframe aligns roughly with the window of time in which bars/wine-shops get maximum footfalls.

[harsh79]

In other words, Car-o-bar time.

[RijuC]

This thread helped me immensely to remain alert when I was returning from Jodhpur to Gurgaon on 7th September. After covering 50 km from Jodhpur to Pali, I could see dark clouds and lightning and it started raining. At times, it was almost dark and heavy rain, I switched on lights so that at least my car is visible to others. When I reached Jaipur bypass it was 6 pm and dark. However I noticed most of the trucks and even bigger vehicles and SUVs were not using lights. I remained extra cautious and that saved me from many unpleasant situations. This thread and the valueable inputs were just in time for a newbie like me.

[infiniti85]

I have always found my own car headlights to be less effective at dusk. Add the fellow drivers who refuse to even switch on their headlights and pedestrians crossing the highways to that.

Overall I find it to be the most uncomfortable time of the day to drive. This data just underlines the risk involved.

[adisan]

For highway drives:

On those occasions when my drive starts in the afternoon but extends past sunset, I have found that it is best to take a break during twilight time. It is not easy to keep adjusting rapidly with the fading daylight, even with headlights on half an hour before sunset. I find it better to resume driving after it has become fully dark. I have felt that some vehicles are driven more rashly during twilight period, maybe because they want to cover as much distance as possible before darkness descends.

But driving at dusk has never been trouble. The increasing daylight is always welcome.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Out of the 4,37,396 accidents reported in 2019, 83,097 took place between 6 pm and 9 pm. That's 19% of the total road accidents.

While the statistic is true, inference need not be so. True that, 20% road accidents happen in that 12.5% window of day but majority of fatal accidents happen much later into the might.
The accidents that happen between 6pm-9pm are mostly down to haste, evening rush, high traffic density. I wish statistics also tell us how many of them are fatal compared to those that happen during other times.

The accidents that happen in early morning / late night hours are much more fatal as traffic density is lower and speeds higher while driver focus is the lowest during that period.