[shinuak]

Early morning any day.
I am someone who always prefer driving during the day and start early primarily due to the freshness factor, traffic and safety. The early morning gives you an overall fresh feel with good visibility and a stopover at any of the famed restaurants popular for their steaming hot breakfast is my kind of day/drive on the highway. While I am not totally averse to driving at night, I try to avoid long drives, unless absolutely necessary or like a short fun rides with friends and family to a midnight coffee shop or ice cream parlor

I prefer night drives more within city or familiar terrain/route due to many factors primarily affecting safety like the ones below

1. Badly planned roadworks
2. Invisible humps, unscientific markings and poorly lit routes
3. Blinding headlights from other vehicles and high possibility of carelessness from fellow drivers on the road
4. Lack of support for failures (like puncture or other mechanical failures). You may end up waiting till next day
5. Possibility of heightened criminal activity than during day

[saum1230]

Early morning for me.

The high beam glare at nights is too annoying. Also, the images of pedestrians suddenly appearing in front of me out of nowhere haunts me when I revv my engine at nights

But early morning for me starts at 5 am. Roads feel unsafe during wee hours of 3-4 am. Trucks drivers and service vehicles are too rash within city roads at this time, and in general I believe 4 am is statistically the most dangerous time to drive.

[nair]

Early morning for me. Something about the sun rising energises me further during the long drives I usually undertake between Bangalore and Cochin.

[sachinpk]

I prefer early morning drives;
1. I start the journey with a fresh mind. When going for a longer drives I have the habit of packing up every thing the night before.
2. I find that morning time is the most relaxing time for me to drive. I will not get any irritating calls or any messages which tenses me up, and I start my drive with a tension free mind. And that would remain for the next 3-4 hours, by which I can cover quite a good distance.
3. For vacation trips I try to reach my halting point at around 1200-1400Hrs so that I get some time to rest and then go around places in the evening.

[flyingraghu]

I usually start all my long drives around 05:00 in the morning. Best time to roll out with the least traffic and cool breeze. You just cover a hundred kilometres so soon in a relaxed manner.

[SKC-auto]

Voted early morning.

I start at 4am for long drives, I like to drive slowly usually not more than 80kmph. I enjoy the drive looking at the villages and kids standing for school bus. By the time my kids wake up we would have covered 200kms and time for a breakfast. I usually reach the destination by evening.

If we have a good expressway I definitely want to drive the whole night though my speed never exceeds 80kmph.

[debashishsen26]

Early mornings anyday over late nights.

I've always tried to avoid late night drives because of the poor road conditions which gets even more dangerous due to poor lighting conditions.
I'm still using the Osram 100/90W bulbs which doesn't help much on highways.

Everytime I plan a short trip whether it be on my bike or in the car I always try to leave by 0400-0500 hours so that I can reach the destination before it gets sunny.
Cooler temperatures, the sun is not out, the traffic rush is not there, if it is pre- or post- monsoon season there is extra greenery all around and there's a whole positive vibe in the morning.
And on family picnics there is the extra motivation to have the breakfast cooked by Maa at a beautiful scenic location.




And since I've to reach my medical college by 0830 which is 26 kms from my home, I'm more accustomed to morning drives.
If I choose to take the bypass I get a long straight stretch to drive a little more enthusiastically and if I take the route through the city, given that I live in the 'City of Lakes' this is my daily view:

[cpabhijit]

Voted early morning. The air is fresh and visibility is much better.. So, with family, early morning is the only option, but if i'm out alone, middle of the night is exciting as well. That said, nothing beats the early morning breakfast!

[Aviationshark]

Hello everyone,

Used to be a huge night driving fan but the constant high beams piercing into my skull has made me resent it and even get a driver for my weekly use. Weekends are when I prefer to drive myself, and definitely prefer getting an early start to the AM by pushing off just before sunrise.

Not a natural early riser but the fact that I don't have to torture my eyes and get headaches from the high beams and additional flood lights attached the front of cars (What's the deal with that ? you're driving in Bombay and not on an unmarked road somewhere) is worth it.

Edit : Got a deep sense of satisfaction when I saw this article. If only we could do this here. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-...where-37847056

Some creative reasons I've heard for blinding others :

1. Battery will reduce if I use low beam
2. I don't know there is low beam
3. High beam gives more visibility, I don't care about others.
4. High beam makes my car go faster
5. Low beam is bad for high beam bulbs (wut?)

[Tapish]

I am an early riser and usually cannot stay awake late at night so prefer early morning drives. Another reason is better visibility - highways in India can suddenly throw poorly marked diversions, rough patches and intersections. I think its always better to be in a better light.
I usually leave my place at 4/5 am and reach my destination before midday. The longest I would drive in a day is around 600 km.

[no_boundaries]

Late night Drives - Though in my family, I'm almost always vetoed for the choice except my wife.

Driving late night is just so peaceful and calm. Somehow I feel I'm more connected to the car and the surroundings when I drive at night. If its ghats, even better. I just love the thrills it offers without being careless. My most peaceful thoughts and introspection (without getting distracted from the road) happen on such drives. I find myself enjoying songs that I've never liked before.

I often used to drive Hyderabad > Bangalore, Chennai > Bangalore at night. I've tried Pune > Bangalore too. I decided against it once we started driving with my 4 year old. (She loves the late night drives, she can see the stars and moon).

I'd get better fuel efficiency plus there are lesser living things throwing surprises at you in the middle of the road. Though its very thrilling to drive at night, one needs to be extra cautious as compared to day driving in terms of vigilance and response to stimuli. Further, its necessary to be sufficiently rested and not drive with a stressed out physical / mental state. 3 -4 hours sleep preceding the drive helps a lot. Also, due to high beam glare, its good to take breaks to rest the eyes (may be wash), hydrate / snack and continue.

I don't like day driving unless its Monsoon.

I often find myself very fatigued driving during the day as compared to night. There are more challenges to be dealt with driving during the day in terms of other erratic drivers, jay walkers, long ques at the toll booth, bright hot sun piercing through to name a few. The flexibility in terms of help in case of breakdown, eating options, restroom options and being in broad day light giving the sense of safety is unbeatable, which remains a worrying factor during night drives.

A picture of my Swift in Hyderabad, when we went to see the Charminar at 3 am.

[Nav-i-gator]

Both have their own charm and it's difficult to choose one. However, rolling the window down and feeling the early morning breeze is a really heavenly experience, esp on the hills (that's usually where I, well, used to go). You don't even like to revv hard or speed up on empty winding roads. You'd just wish this journey to never end.

[HammerHead]

Early morning for me as well. Most of my drives are between Pune and Goa. I start at 5AM, strict 1hr breakfast break and then eat lunch with my parents in Goa at 1PM.
Better visibility, sense of safety while you are driving with your family, stress less driving and reach the destination fresh is some thing I like when I start early morning.

[vijayshouree]

I am always in for Early Morning drive. I start before 5 AM for any long journey (I usually travel to my home town which takes ~7.5 Hrs), so mostly I reach before 1:30 PM with breaks in between. That being said, I have done so many night drives, except for the road visibility, I thoroughly enjoyed those drives.

[kptraveller]

Night drive gets boring when on highways as you get to see very less around you. If your intention is just reaching a place, night drive is okay. Otherwise I always prefer early morning drives.