Driving during night will have few advantages and yes it comes with being very careful and prepared as well. And sharing this article particularly for the Motorcycle riders.
Night driving will have few advantages for people, like no need to worry about the huge traffic because most of the people will be sleeping, And you will not get tired like you get tired in the daytime, And most of the night drivers will be more cautious and prepared about their driving and few more.
Considering the advantages, we have to make sure about the risk as well, like most of the accidents happen during 2 AM to 4 AM in the nights, And avoid people who are asking for help on the roads or highways, if there's any nearby place or have a glance at the situation and proceed, Only stop if your gut feel says to stop, else don’t and few more.
In either case, for a driver or rider who is doing night driving, below tips will help a bit to be more cautious and be prepared. And these are the tips which i have come across driving on the Roads and Highways during the Nights (Here’s article about one such night driving experience from Bangalore to Rameshwaram)
1. Adequate Lighting
- Make sure, your motorcycle has the adequate light, so that you can see the road very clearly during the night.
- Make sure you have both White Bright light for Long range, and Yellow bright light from Low beam range.
- Use the Low beam if there are any vehicles on the opposite side.
- Use Long range White Bright lights if there are no vehicles on the opposite side.
- Have the Switch handy for switching the Lights for Low beam and High beam.
2. Reflectors for Yourself and for your Motorcycle
- Have the reflectors attached to your riding Jacket, riding Pants, riding Gloves and riding Shoes.
- Have the reflectors on the Bike particularly on the Back and Side (Left and Right) ways.
- The reflectors will be handy, in case of any problem for your motorcycle or yourself.
3. How to Ride and Take care of yourself?
- Don’t be in a hurry, always be defensive driver.
- Not all drivers who are driving during night will be cautious or prepared. If you are changing lanes or need to overtake, make sure all 360 degrees are safe to proceed.
- Make sure you are always having some distance from the heavy vehicles or in this case for all the vehicles. You have to be at a distance like if you apply brakes, you can stop before you touch the other vehicle.
- Avoid looking at the light coming from the opposite vehicle, at such times look at your motorcycle headlight’s light reach, it will help you a lot in terms of road visibility.
- Don’t use Horn, unless needed. Make sure to take opposite vehicles with your motorcycle Lights. Pretty simple, Low beam and High beam.
- At corners, make sure to slow down, see and then proceed. This is really very important and make sure to use lights at such times.
- Drive at Good Speed (Not Worst or Not Best), Make sure your motorcycle is not vibrating and it is passing through smoothly. You will be confident.
- And be Hydrated and be Awake, Have enough water and coffee if needed.
These are a few tips which might be helpful on most Roads and Highways.
You need to be extra cautious, while you are riding in a few places, like generally where crime rate is high. Means make sure to know the road and place which comes in between your start and destination and search about the places and how people are at these places.
In most of the cases, If it’s a National Highways or High altitude roads you might not see such issues of crimes. Have checks if you are riding on State highways or Single lane roads (where you don’t have a divider).
Hope this article was helpful for the people who are looking for tips on night driving. Thanks for reading the article.
