Team-BHP - Small survival kit for Indian roads.

@Zappo this is a very knowledgeable and necessary post to save ourselves on our roads.

Just like to add my two cents:

1. Never ever do a night travel on your car/taxi.
Book a lodge nearby and sleepover if the clock ticks 6 o' clock at dusk and
you wont be able to complete your trip in an hours time after that.
Same goes with early morning driving. Practice this 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. rule.

Huge trailers without indicators , lamps on their sides of the long vehicle ,
drunk drivers and morons will just begin to appear and unfortunately you
would be on the receiving end even if you are a sober driver.
My friend lost half of his family a couple of years ago owing to an accident at mid-night.

2. while drafting a truck/bus (usually happens during toll collection) maintain a good distance.
the truck walas while moving again would momentarily jerk back and then proceed forward .

cheers,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rev_That_V8 (Post 3630637)

2. while drafting a truck/bus (usually happens during toll collection) maintain a good distance.

A corollary to the above rule. In case you have to drive at the night, identify a vehicle which can play the role of a Shikhandi (refer Mahabharata). The Shikhandi can either be a big vehicle (a VOLVO bus?) or another car. Go behind him/her at a safe distance, so that you can observe his actions (slowing down, attempts to over take) and plan accordingly. If the Shikhandi is a big vehicle, if a proper distance can be maintained you would also not get dazzled by the headlights of vehicle from opposite direction.

But I generally practise a 0400Hrs to 1900Hrs driving routine. If it is out of this time zone, I plan for a night halt.

The advise about following a Volvo at nights is good. But it's mainly for bikes.

I did a lot of blr-goa-blr and blr-Bombay-blr on my trusty and much missed rx 100 and suzi shogun with that technique.

With cars it's just best to sleep well in the afternoon to early evening, at least 3 hrs undisturbed rest. If you then start at 9 pm there is very little chance of nodding off.

And please no matter what anyone says driving long distance with drinks inside you does not help. Just stay clean.

Very important to keep on drinking plain water. Not red bull or Gatorade. Just normal h2o which nature makes.

I like to keep a crate of half liter bisleris on these long night drives. It also forces you to take a rest break every 1-1.5 hrs.

My experience is roadside tea 5-6 rupees during those rest breaks works well. Somehow coffee at the many extremely comfortable Coffee Shops (with all respect to their owners) does not appeal much. A lot of time gets wasted. And it makes you relax too much when you should be in an alert state.

Again a personal preference I prefer silent co-passengers on night drives. Chatting drains too much energy.

One important thing. If you have women or elders in your car make sure they carry and take a couple of anti-vomit tablets. I've had many an occasion when an omelette is laid inside the car on ghat roads.

The most dangerous hour on night drives is daybreak. You would be close to your destination. But still in highway mode. Local drivers are still in sleep mode.

A longer break and some deep breathing and mentally getting to local city mindset helps.

By 6 ish most town outskirts will have an idly shop just opening. They make some awesome chutney. Shake the owner up and order a plate of 5-6 idlies. These are truly worth all those miles

I wanted to add one more thing. If you are traveling through a state where you don't know the local language always learn a set of commonly used sentences.

I usually carry a paper with about 20 sentences relevant to whichever state I'm traveling in.

Always begin your interaction in the local lingo. After a point they may speak things you've no idea about. Then you can slowly speak in (hopefully) a common language. It works most of the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by srinih75 (Post 3678613)

Take a pair of walkie talkie so you can converse with your navigator or fellow car driver even if you are in no man's land with no cell towers.

+1. But please remember many of those Walkie Talkies (PMR etc.) which we get from outside India or through E-Bay etc. are actually illegal to be used in India. CB Radio is best suited for this purpose, but it is yet to formally take off in India. Many people don't use it at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by srinih75 (Post 3678613)

Carrying few hardboard paper pieces and a whistle is a good thing. If stuck in sand it can help you out.

Maybe I'm not very bright today. Holiday and all.

So I understand the need for a whistle and communication devices.

What are the paper pieces for? To leave a last will and testament or just to play with?

Quote:

Originally Posted by srinih75 (Post 3684121)

:) it is for getting out of tricky sand slush situation. One of the guys at Pondy got his car stuck in a small dune of sand and i used his tissue box placed under his wheels and slowly got the car out. Paper isn't needed if you can get big leaves or some wooden plank.

Ok that makes sense. I keep a couple of old tubes and gunny bags in the boot. Those can probably help with the same. Though I have not been in a situation to try it yet.

The other tip is well known to most guys. If you have to drive through water that's above your exhaust level, make sure you don't remove your foot from the accelerator pedal until you exit that spot. Know your air filter level. If the water is below the air filter you can drive through.

One thing I have noticed is that drivers are more selfish than selfless. If you are going on a highway and see a slow moving truck on the right lane, which then decides to go the left or middle lane. You might think it changing lane to let you go ahead, but many times there might be an obstacle on the road which it is trying to avoid. Change lane with the truck or slow down. You might not be able to see the obstacle until its too late. Never assume the vehicle is changing lane for you to overtake it.

My 2 cents

1. Hammer - If power windows and doors get jammed

2. Keep a watch in the rear view mirror before applying brake and brake early

3. Switch on parking/hazard light for sudden braking to catch attention

4. Reverse horn - Not a big fan but it helps while reversing from a cross road to a main road

5. Watch out for animals and kids below or behind the vehicle before jumping on to the car

6. Be cautious while you overtake trucks carrying Hay/Sugarcane/heavy load making the road invisible

7. Watch out while overtaking buses stopped at the bus stop. High probability of the driver veering to the right suddenly.

8. Good polaroid eyewear

9. 5 AM to 7 PM rule. Daybreak 1 AM to 4 AM is when the body needs the most rest

10. If there are vehicles ahead of me, I am always behind the vehicle thats farthest in front of me in a road with 2 or more lanes

11. Better to yield than rush, but watch your back

12. Tubeless puncture kit

13. Paper map or GPS

14. Few common fuses

15. match box

16. Essential medicines if your travelling with kids and aged.

Quote:

Originally Posted by venuvedam (Post 3572082)

In my 14 years of driving, the golden rule I learnt is this: "I never have the right of way. No matter what."

I follow this religiously and always yield. Keeps my blood pressure as well as my car in a good shape :)

Best advice so far.

As they say, the meek shall inherit the earth, or at least, the road!

For car
1. Towing cable (it may be helpful to someone)
2. Spare engine oil (especially for long trip)
3. Small cabinet wiper for windshield. ( I somehow detest the very idea of newspaper cleaning )
4. Flash light
Personal items
1. Match box ( not lighter). I once saw a lighter just went kaboom! I n my friends VW Polo due to excessive heat as it was lying on dashboard . Though there was no damage, it was scary.
2. Water. Minimum two bottles. One for drinking and another one for emergency and cleaning the windshield
3. Some granola bars or snickers.
4. Tissue paper roll.
5. 12v usb charger and spare usb cable. I keep one Android and one iPhone cable permanently in car.
6. Hand towel.
7. Car manual.
8. Puncture kit.
9. Photocopy of DL and RC
10. First aid kit.