[Rover]

Abhi,

Nice write-up. You are absolutely right...one should not drive beyond 120 in the day, 80 in the night and 60 during twilight.

I was once on the ECR from Pondi going towards Chennai doing about 60 when a Honda Accord passed me by...must have been at 160. This was during twilight and he did not have his headlights on. I shudder to think what would have happend if a pedestrian or cyclist came in his path at that time.

[ajmat]

Have moved to my new campus on the outer ring road. Believe me, am scared as I take the Vtec upto speed only to see someone crossing in the distance, or a truck doing a u turn, worst of all, a slow truck in a fast lane and you have no resort but to pass on the left. I don't feel good about my driving when I get to office/ home.

[Rishi]

Originally Posted by Revvmaster

The solution is, if you see oncoming high vehicles with high beams on, especially on a two-laned, dividerless highway stretch, its better to slow down, keep your vehicle to the left as much as possible and let him go. That way you prevent head-on collisions as well as give yourself enough room and time to see ahead for any obstructions or hidden vehicles.

Revv

I do not completely agree to Revv here about moving to the left. What happens in these cases is that your attention is diverted to the oncoming vehicle and you miss out if someone is actually there on the left side. Your vision is impaired due to the oncoming lights.

I had to swerve right on some occassions because there were villagers walking on the left side of the road. I usually go slow on highways where i see villages or lights on the sides.

This happened to me about 3 yrs back. I was staying at Kolhapur for my engg. It was around 2 am in the morning when my friends decided to go to Goa. We packed our bags and left around 2:30-3:00 am. Were doing around 80-90 on Splendor on the highway when suddenly 10-20 mts ahead i saw a sugarcane bulloc cart stopped right in the way. Had to slam hard on the breaks, but I did crash head onto the back of the cart. The sugarcanes had been cut diagonnaly and were sticking out from the back. Luckily i always wear a helmet, so I was saved. The helmet visor got cracks and the headlamp cover broke..Other than that I was rightly shaken.

[revtech]

hey Abhi good write up.many of these trucks buses and tourist vehicles drive with their high beam on. little do they know it blinds the driver coming towards them but even if they knew i dont think they would switch to low beam.thats the difference between a well educated driver and one who just can drive the car from point A to B.

Rev

[Revvmaster]

I do not completely agree to Revv here about moving to the left. What happens in these cases is that your attention is diverted to the oncoming vehicle and you miss out if someone is actually there on the left side. Your vision is impaired due to the oncoming lights.

It still is a better solution. And yes, i have clearly mentioned, as much to the left as possible, which means watching out for rubble, cliffs and of-course slow-moving traffic on the left. Its better to anticipate in advance and take precautionary driving steps rather than wait till the last minute to do something.

Doing 80-90 kmph at 3am on a Splendor seems a bit too much. Especially since i guess the stretch you were on didn't have adequate lighting. Coupled with the insufficient beam strength in most Indian bikes due to poor OE fittings (bulbs of inadequate wattage). Had you to have been doing a more sane 60 kmph or less, it would have given you a better chance of braking earlier, and most probably would have braked way before the cart.

No doubt you find members out here suggesting much slower speeds at night, just because you need to anticipate a situation way in advance.

Revv

[javedbhaimumbai]

Samurai:
Hi, you mentioned Baleno, what about its rolling noise? I am considering Baleno but worried about that so called rolling noise thus collecting feedback from fellow Baleno owners. Will you please post your observations. Also please see my earlier post on the same issue .

Regards

javedbhai

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by abhi182

Turned out that a Truckwallah (probably thinking he's driving in the US) was speeding on the wrong side of the road WITHOUT the headlights on. If I would have assumed the swerve to be a pass, It would have been a direct head-on with me at ~100kmph.

This thing has happened to me on Outer ring Road. It was a big truck at night. The mini truck of me (About 50mts) adruptly stopped. I had to swerve since i was doing 70. That guy had hit the truck head on at about 60kmph . All because the other guy did not want to go to the divider 100mts ahead and chose the short cut. If you go to hosur from blr you will see buses do this at tamil nadu checkpost to avoid traffic jams!

Originally Posted by abhi182

So however skilled you may be and however briliant your car is, it is downright foolish to speed up on Indian roads, especially in South India (Go ahead, flame me for this, but I say this coz of having had much better driving experiences on the Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Chandigarh highways).

I agree with you. There trucks drive on highways in the middle lane and you mostly have clear fast lane. Down south trucks at 40 race with each other on the middle and fast lanes and you have to go from the slow lane. Esp true with TN/KA trucks.

[anoops]

i love plastering my car on the higway, but only during the day..night driving is very dangerous in india, and i always avoid it...better to start early in the morning and reach your destination before day light fades....in the night you tend to notice things at the last minute and that could be fatal.

hey samurai, enjoy your drive in spanking new beauty..and come back safe.

[abhi182]

Down south trucks at 40 race with each other on the middle and fast lanes and you have to go from the slow lane.

Hehe, If not for the boiling feeling you get inside your head when stuck behind them, It is actually hilarious to watch the struggling it out with the winner inching ahead (literally) at a pace of 2 cms a second....

Doesn't just happen on highways but also happens all the time even on the main thoroughfare; Mount Road (Anna Salai)
Unfortunately, most of the times, the width of the road is not enough for you to overtake em hanyhow, so need step down on the gas and bide your time.....

[nitinbhag]

[quote=vinsanity]Thats is one thing i'v noticed all the time.. The big truckwalas and the interstate buses, all the time in highbeam.. Just really gets u mad and loose complete vision of the road ahead.. QUOTE]

A few things you can do:

- As Revvmaster suggests, drive as much on the left as practically possible
- Flash your lights while still some distance away from the approaching vehicle.. around 50% of truck drivers respond by dipping their lights.. buses mostly dont. Be sure to dip your lights once the other guy responds.
- If the other guy doesnt dip, keep your lights on low beam.. flash them every few seconds so you can periodically see whats in your path. This also serves as a request to dip for the other guy.
- The natural refelx is to look directly at the approaching headlights. Train yourself to look at the left edge of your road. If there is some vehicle ahead of you look at its tail lights. This puts the oncoming beam into your peripheral vision and you utilise the center of the retina (with max rods and cones) better.
- Switch your beam to high just as you are about to pass the oncoming vehicle. This is important as your eye pupils have been contracted by the oncoming headlights and there is a dark patch of road ahead. The pupils take about a second to dilate, during which you can cover a lot of distance without seeing what is in the way.
- If you can find a fast moving truck or bus, follow it at a safe distance. You get shielded from oncoming lights quite well.

In the end, best option is to keep off the highways at night if you can help it.

[superavi]

Hi folks,
This makes for good reading, and sensibility, however I feel that driving at night is a better bet than having to avoid tractors, slow moving two wheelers, jay walkers and other traffic.

Agreed that slower speeds is more sensible, but you could actually travel faster because of light traffic. Of course be prepared at all times, whether night or day!

[vinsanity]

Originally Posted by Revvmaster

The solution is, if you see oncoming high vehicles with high beams on, especially on a two-laned, dividerless highway stretch, its better to slow down, keep your vehicle to the left as much as possible and let him go. That way you prevent head-on collisions as well as give yourself enough room and time to see ahead for any obstructions or hidden vehicles.

Revv

Ya.. U arent left with any other option.. But sometimes these guys overtake with highbeam and then we have to go off road.. The way they come, u just have to getoff road as far away from them as possible.. Really irritating but thats how it works with these bus guys..

Hey nitin nice points there.. But those bus guys like u said dont bother to respond..

[CaliAtenza]

Originally Posted by RX135

Nice write up and very true. But do you drive with high beam always? Sad to hear that. I get really bugged, if someone does not lower the beam. I keep flashing multiple times till he realizes and if he doesn't bother, I put on high beam till I pass that damn vehicle.

what is it with indians and high beams, dim and dip, etc ..i dont get teh purpose of having the high beams on constantly?? ...here in the US..its illegal.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

what is it with indians and high beams, dim and dip, etc ..i dont get teh purpose of having the high beams on constantly?? ...here in the US..its illegal.

But this is India, my dear friend People just dont understand it. A few years back, we were traveling in a qualis. The guy seemed to be a decent driver and was using low beam always. It was a small road and we had a truck coming towards us, with high beam. Our driver flashed a few times in vain. He was just not able to see anything ahead with those powerful beams heading towards us. Speeds were low being small road. Our driver got so bugged, he stopped the qualis right in the middle of road blocking way for the truck, forcing him to stop.

And then they had some real schweety schweet discussion for next 10 minutes

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by vinsanity

Ya.. U arent left with any other option.. But sometimes these guys overtake with highbeam and then we have to go off road.. The way they come, u just have to getoff road as far away from them as possible.. ..

I ripped a tyre becuse of this. Actually this is where an SUV scores - you sit high so glare is reduced