[Ashpillai]

I took my first drive into the mountains last week....... Visited Sangla Chitkul.... The return journey saw a drive of 250 KM plus in the dark and I can tell you that it was easier than in the day and amazingly easy.

The only issue is that it would help if the roads are in good condition..... But please remember that the first YAWN you get should ring a warning bell!! Stop immediately and if you do need to carry on, let your companion do the driving, if none or if companion is sleepy too, better call it a day (or night!!!)

[YamahaBoy]

Both Day & night Driving are Ok & both have got their advantages & dis advantages..

Day
Advantages --Better Visibility, More accurate calculation of vehicle distance for Overtaking, Braking etc..
Dis advantages -- Too hot by 12:00PM, Engine gets heated up, frequent rests reqd, More Traffic

Night
Advantages -- Almost Empty Roads, Cool Atmosphere, Engine Cooling is more effective
Dis Advantages -- HL of oncoming Traffic, Difficult to Gauge Correct Distances, Drowsiness by around 4:00AM

cheers:

[pulsar56]

IMHO, avoid night driving due to the glare from the oncoming traffic (mostly truck convoys and on High Beam) if you are not on HIDs!
Day time is the best due to good visibility of the pot holes Indian roads have on offer. If you are well aware of the road (travelling frequently), it doesn't matter if it's night or day...

[fatherlover]

Driving in nights : Clear roads, great weather, fresh air.

[Ice]

In my opinion, Night driving is alright on highways with a median. The on-coming vehicles' headlights don't affect you as much. But DO NOT drive at night if its a dual carriageway.

Also, when driving during the day, rest after lunch (and a not-so-heavy one). 2-4 PM, post lunch, with the heat outside and the AC blowing away is an open invite to lala land

[somubj]

Depends on the road ... if it's something like ghats, then no-no to night driving, otherwise, it is the best time.

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by fatherlover

Driving in nights : Clear roads, great weather, fresh air.

There is one trick that is essential to learn in order to drive at night - avoid looking at the oncoming headlights at all cost, this is done by averting the eyes and keeping them focussed on the road margin (or lane marker) at the left (if possible adjust your headlights to fall where you want the left margin to be in relation to your car). One glances up only very briefly to ensure that the path in front is clear.

Once this knack is mastered, night driving is a breeze whether on plains or on the ghats.

[architect]

Night or Day driving?

First considerations are Crime, Number of passengers and Reliability of car. If the area is safe, car has been reliable (and you have been thorough in maintaining it) and you are not alone, then consider night driving. In fact, that is the primary driver for the choice.

Night driving is simpler because you need to concentrate on fewer things.

No pedestrians,no bicycles, not much cattle, no tractors, very few bikes.

And you are able to identify things from other cues (reflected lights, shadows, sound of wheels on the surface, esp on a bike). I have found driving at night on my bike (with not the best headlamps) very helpful in developing my "night-sight".

Tiredness is not restricted to daytime alone. I am freshest between 10 PM and 3 AM. So it is a question of knowing when you are tired.

Chewing gum helps when you feel drowsy. Nothing helps like stopping for a nap, though.

Unlike what other people have written, I always thought chances of dozing off on a ghat / hill road are lesser. It is so involving to drive, how can you sleep? Many straight highways can make you sleepy, though.

And IMO, driving on the hills at night is a breeze because of the visibility of the lights from far off and around corners.

P.S. I have done most of my highway trips alone, so I have to drive in the day. However, whenever I have company (or I am the company to another driver) I am game for night driving. I also ensure that I sit up all the time with the driver and chat up with him.

P.P.S. While I love the 5 am - 9 am part of early starts, I am usually quite tired towards the latter half of the day when it can get frustrating because the last part of the journey takes much longer.

[Roy.S]

I always preferred to drive during the night (fewer people on the highway) until the time I encountered a car coming at me in the fast lane on the wrong side of the highway at 2:30am just after Vellore on the Chennai-Bangalore highway. I was overtaking a tanker and could not see the moron because I was going up a crest. Managed to avoid him by squeezing my car between the tanker's front and rear wheels (was doing about 80kph then). Since then I have been somewhat squeamish about late night driving and try to finish my journeys by 9 pm. An experienced long distance driver told me that he drives only between 4 am and 7 pm. After 7 in the evening he just checks into the nearest hotel and resumes the next morning.

[SAHIR.KITTUR]

I prefer night driving in ghats as its very easy to know the traffic from the other side.

[csentil]

If you are driving on a 4 lane, then night driving is a wee bit safer than on a 2 lane. I'm not a fan of late night driving but having done Chennai - Bangalore a couple of times I've been able to traverse the distance faster without resorting to higher speeds.

We actually did Koyambedu (Chenna) - Krishnagiri in 2 hr 20 minutes. We never crossed 125 kmph. Road conditions and the cats eyes all along helped. However Krishnagiri - Bangalore (home) took us 90+ minutes due to heavy lorry traffic.

However I shudder to think of doing similar speeds or times on 2 lane roads.

[X-Machine]

No issues with either. But mostly night drives. If im driving down to Goa, Pune, Gujarat etc, then i preferably leave around 3am, so as to clear most of the irrational drivers, truckies and rockets (bikes):-). Its more peaceful, with some lounge music playing in the background.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I stipulated to my visitor last week that our trip from Kanchipuram back to Chennai had to be started early enough so that I was not doing highway night-time driving.

Of course it didn't happen; we didn't get away from Kanchipuram until after 7.00pm.

I was surprised at how easy NH4 was in the dark --- it was much easier than the village/cow/pedestrian/roadblock filled ECR back from Mahabalipuram. The trucks maintained lane and speed and were pretty easy to deal with.

A foreigner's first taste of night-time highway driving!

[MileCruncher]

If going on a long drive, I prefer starting very early (read 4 am) which is technically still night and dark. I prefer driving through the day and try to hit the sack by 11 and up again by 4 to be on the road. I have done various night drive and its actually the best time to drive if you are not exhausted. But the time between 7 - 10 is the worst time IMO

[Shan2nu]

I prefer day driving. But if i have to drive in the dark, id rather have a good sleep, get up at around 3-4am and then then start my journey.

shan2nu