[ECM]

Very interesting reading indeed and to add one line in it-Keep a safe left hand distance always and dont drive near or on left hand ages in any cases on the roads.This safe distance(gap) will help u in any emergency.Hope u get me what I am saying.Good luck and have a safe jorney.

[rks]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Already I had asked about this in a different post. I had seen that drivers on certain bends in ghats, move towards right and allow the vehicle coming in opposite direction to cut through. Why this is done and they do it only on certain bends on not on all, whats specific with those bends?

Not sure whether I got answer for the same or not

I am not entirely certain I fully understand your question. Let me rephrase it as follows:

On certain bends in ghat roads, it may be advisable for small vehicles to move towards the right edge of the road and let heavy vehicles pass them on their left. Why?

If this is your question, one answer might be that on such bends, it may not be safe for a heavy vehicle, say a fully loaded lorry, to move to its left to let you pass for fear that it may overturn or go off the road. So it may be advisable for the smaller vehicle to move to the right towards that edge (which may be unprotected, leading to a drop down the cliff) and let the heavy vehicle pass along the centre of the road. In other words, the normal "keep left" scenario will fail in these situations if it requires the heavy vehicle to make a dangerous move towards the edge of the road. Lorry drivers are notoriously reluctant to get off the middle of the road on the ghats when their vehicles are fully loaded.

Hope this answers your question.
Regards, rks

[rks]

Originally Posted by rks

I am not entirely certain I fully understand your question. Let me rephrase it as follows:

On certain bends in ghat roads, it may be advisable for small vehicles to move towards the right edge of the road and let heavy vehicles pass them on their left. Why?

If this is your question, one answer might be that on such bends, it may not be safe for a heavy vehicle, say a fully loaded lorry, to move to its left to let you pass for fear that it may overturn or go off the road. So it may be advisable for the smaller vehicle to move to the right towards that edge (which may be unprotected, leading to a drop down the cliff) and let the heavy vehicle pass along the centre of the road. In other words, the normal "keep left" scenario will fail in these situations if it requires the heavy vehicle to make a dangerous move towards the edge of the road. Lorry drivers are notoriously reluctant to get off the middle of the road on the ghats when their vehicles are fully loaded.

Hope this answers your question.
Regards, rks

Another possibility is that on some bends, the heavy vehicle would have to make a very sharp turn with very small turning radius, if it were to keep left. So maybe on such bends, it would be easier for the heavy vehicle to make a larger turn by keeping right and let the smaller vehicle make the tight turn.

There could be other similar reasons. Perhaps there is a small area on the right side of the road that only a small vehicle can occupy, while the heavy vehicle negotiates the bend to the left of the small vehicle. Sometimes, however, smaller vehicles make the mistake of not stopping in advance and get too close to heavy vehicles coming on the opposite direction on narrow bends. In such cases, the only way out (if the reversing option is not available) may be for the smaller vehicle to move to its right and make way for the larger vehicle.
Regards, rks

[humyum]

Ghats at night Had an exprience i would never forgot for the rest of my life.One my friend and me both of us left from banglore to ooty on my HONDA DIO(had one while i was studying in bangalore).Left at 8 o clock in the morning from banshankari Bus stop(our meeting point) and reached ooty at around 9 clock in the night.Had kept a constant speed of 60 kmph on the dio as cant rip too much on an automatic bike and the final leg of our journey was on the ghats in the night.Too scary the bike would not go more than 30 to 35,not a soul in sight,pitch darkness,too much fog and the dios headlights were no help either.Scared the S*** out of both of us and on top of that the roads were daam bad.Everytime we slowed the bike for bad roads the bike would cry back accelerating.
Finally reached ooty at around 9 in the night and both of us had our bums with underwear marks due to constant sittin on the bike for more than 12 hours
Gonna remember this trip for the rest of my life.Bike consumed around 16 liters of petrol for the entire trip of goin and comming back and sightseeing in ooty.Total trip around 750 km

[revharder]

we all are discussing it, good.
but i just feels that thread originator "mrhap" has not even looked at it!

it doesnot matters much, but still it wud be great if he takes active participation in the discussion.

[amitoj]

I agree with Khaadu totally. This is not the first time i am hearing someone say that driving in the hills is better at night. Of course, first time i heard it, i was aghast! But then i saw the logic behind it. Driving at night in the mountains is better simply because you know there is a vehicle coming from the opposite side before you can actually see it!!

As far as the topic is concerned, most important thing is to stick to the left side of the road, no matter where your racing line is taking you. Racing lines are for tracks and not for roads, no matter whether they are deserted or not, no matter how many times u have been on that road before. STICK TO THE LEFT SIDE!!!!

Oh and make sure ur tyres aint bald!


Amitoj

[naveendhyani]

Originally Posted by khaadu75

Hey, This is not advised but yes a lot of us ppl have the habit of switching on the lights way after its completely dark but then this is not somethig I wud advise as there are certain precautions you have to take .... !!! This is not for everyone Navin ... u'll just confuse this thread up ....

Cheers

no no khaadu, i dont intend to tell people that dont switch on ur lights. they must do so before the darkness sets in but i m talking about the areas which are not illuminated by the headlight. they are also lit up enough to see if thats a bend or not.

[kpzen]

I also agree with Khaadu.....Night driving is better in the hills but only if u got very good lights like palio or may b any other clear lens headlamps(even strobes) else u can be blinded....
I drove a zen n Ikon recently in himachal....The ikon was pretty easy to drive with good lights but the old zen was causing a lot of sighting problems so tailgated the ikon all the way.....Also in night u can cover more kms....

KP

[kphilip]

khaddu u r rite, night driving seems more comfortable to me..2 weeks back i went with my accent crdi near munnar to my sold estate.. while coming back the traffic to uphill was almost close to nil.It was fun overtaking then, we can easily judge in the hills where some vehicle's coming in the opposite side... but dont think it'll be safe if theres mist ..Avoid driving if there's mist in the night..Use flash lights even if it's noon and heavy mist.

[Rudra Sen]

A good pair of sharp tone horns help.

[DRC]

Sorry Remembered late... Carry a rope in the boot.

No! I am serious. I had seen a situation. In Bhadra reserve forests. An omni tried to make way for a sumo and drove a little too much to the left off the road. Soon he found himself slipping into the valley on the wet ans loose soil. Slipping was slow but was accelerated if he used hi engine to come out of the situation. Locals quickly realized the situation and arrested teh further slippage by tying the car to a firm tree with a rope.

Again, if you know the road and are sure there are no narrow roads unpaved you may not need it.

[naveendhyani]

also always keep a spare key in ur pocket. just in case u leave the key inside and lock the car u should not b stranded in the middle of nowhere.

[harishsegar]

Originally Posted by kphilip

.... Use flash lights even if it's noon and heavy mist.

Flash lights !!! Man.. how do you do that

[mrhap]

am definitely taking interest....the first few responses answered most of the questions....thanks a lot guys....after that it became more of a debate on the night drving thing....he he !!! it basically is upto a person's choice and personal convenience - whether he wants to drive at night or day...but ya, the basic purpose of going to the hills is for the view and all...so the best thing would be-1 way at day for the daytime view and 1 way at night for the night views....how does that sound guys? ha ha ha !!!

[sumitkalindi]

Well almost all the tips are here. So enjoy your drive. Be in your limits ( speed that is). And yes it always helps if you can have some pilot, maybe following a local driver from a safe distance will help.

And yes, do not forget to check all the lights are working, a pair of good fogs will definately help, as will some a pair of truetone. If possible keep some bulbs as spare. one of each kind will do very well. It helps to keep the stereo vol low and the windows down, so that you do not miss the feeble bleak of horn from the mahindra hidden by the blind curve.

So happy hill driving. Remember enjoy your drive, and do not rush, there is no deadline while in vacation.