[dwarika]

Originally Posted by iamahunter

While traveling at night, its best to listen to podcasts. A podcast is way more effective in keeping one indulged and awake compared to music (personal preference).

Thats a brilliant idea. It can give dual benefit of staying alert and learning something new while driving.

[matchvan]

Greetings, A noob question??
How late is actually a late night!!!
For me it's 10 PM Max 11 PM and Not beyond that!
Every alternate week I drive a distance of 350 KM to and fro, starting at 3 in the morning, drive in a relaxed manner and reach my destination at 9 AM.
Advantages: less traffic, good mileage, and I enjoy the ride, it's soothing, I feel relaxed at the end of it.
The return journey starts at 4 PM and ends between 10 to 11PM depending on traffic.
Disadvantages: chaotic traffic, less mileage and I'm super tired after the ride!
This is a single carriage way and with lot of towns every 40 to 50 km.
The traffic keeps me awake and music cuts the boredom.
The only advantage I have is that I know the road and its only 3 hours past sunset.
Sometimes i get delayed and If i feel it goes beyond 10 or 11 PM, I DONT DRIVE AT NIGHT.
I stay back and start the next morning at 3 or 4 am.
Its not safe to drive at night on our roads and it's not worth the risk unless there's an emergency.
Stay safe.

[Thermodynamics]

Nothing beats sleep than sleep itself. I do a lot of night driving, taking a power nap when feeling drowsy is key. I usually park at a road side eatery and take a nap with no timer set. Whenever I wake up, I would wash my face with cold water, gargle and consume a cup of hot tea. Surprisingly, nutritional drinks like Boost works out miracles.

[tmtitash12]

I am a fairly new driver, started driving only three years back, so please forgive me if I'm wrong and do correct me. I am an avid driver, i love to drive, but there are times during long hauls that make me feel inattentive and then i start searching for local dhabas, where a lot of trucks would be parked. I have a cup of tea and go and talk to those truck drivers about how long they will travel, where they're coming from, how much fuel they consume. What kinds of stuffs they carry in their trucks, how are the road conditions in various states, that would help me decide my next road trip, about their lives. Just talk it will help your mind clear up during long hauls. And in case I'm feeling sleepy, that's not a safe way to drive, i would park my car at a dhaba and take a nap, the nap can be of ½ hour or 5 hours, there's no fixed time limit for the nap, when you wake up fresh, that's the time for driving again. It has been 30K kms of blissful long drives during my road trips most of which happens during the night. Here are two pictures of my car, in one i have parked my car near a roadside dhaba to have some tea while going to Sikkim, and food, the other one is on reaching Ravangla after pulling the all nighter from kolkata. Thank you for reading.

[T2luvroads]

For me it's suspense stories which keeps my mind fresh and awake with high level of concentration, I need to do several night drives due to my professional commitments adding to that I'm a high myope. But again I prefer driving slow, no cruise control to keep myself engaged, and the suspense which keeps me awake.

[denzdm]

Originally Posted by SR-71

I would be interested in learning other tricks that fellow members engage in under such circumstances.

Well, for me the below works to a large extent

1. Good rested body and mind hours before the night drive.
2. Brush your teeth and take a bath (any morning ritual that you follow to trick the body into switching to fully active mode).
3. As you are not into music I would suggest, listen to your favourite old watched movie over audio system. Keeps brain engaged as you will be mouthing the dialogs as it plays.
4. If you can, roll down windows every 1 hour to get some fresh air.
5. Every 2 hours, take a 5 min break at well lit (preferably petrol pump) and skip / jump to get some blood rushing back to the brain.
6. Last and most important, don't be in a rush. Keep calm and drive on.

[ksakotai]

For me it is the graveyard shift timing of 2 - 4 that poses the greatest threat. However hard I try my eyes just dont want to keep awake.

I just make sure I stop and wash my face, keep the AC full blast on my face for 5 mins..

That does the trick for at least 1 hour after which I have to do the same. Invariably I get to a Dhabha soon enough.

[contentedbloke]

I've observed tourist drivers do all-nighters - one thing most of them follow is not to eat anything or eat very light food - hunger definitely keeps one awake. Further, a heavy meal results in sleepiness exactly about 30-45 minutes after the meal is done.

[Amil]

I prefer nights over day as well. Have a good lighting setup on the Nexon for the same reason. Its the same thing as most people do. What's important is, to avoid falling asleep.. Do something different every now n then. The body gets 'bored' of the monotony and starts to fall asleep. My Nexon even reminds me every 2hrs of continuous driving to 'take a tea break'. I usually stop to pee, stretch or drink some water. I travel with my mom between cities, 450kms one way usually, so every half an hour or so she gives me some water in a small cup which i can gulp down in a sip. We even snack sometimes, chips, khakra, etc. Keeps me hydrated/fed and since its doing something different, i am not usually sleepy. When she is asleep and i am the only one driving, I never tail anyone. I am usually overtaking everyone which keeps me in the action and wide awake. I can drive up to 120 easily at night with the lighting setup i have but i try to cruise at 80/90 to be on the safer side, in case anything suddenly comes in between.. I once had a young deer jump across the road in the middle of the night. Next time something like that happens, will share here.

[livetodrive]

Keep car temperature low, since slightly warm ambience will put you in sleep. Music can't be too loud since fellow passengers are sleeping. In complete silence, diesel clatter is music to my ears. And keep driving...you, the highways and your car cruising in dark...it's pure bliss.

[Dark water]

I believe it has more to do with your mental strength and will, if the body and mind are in sync one will let the other know when it's time to stretch and when to rest. One must be clear whether one wants to drive or not.
I am a very frequent night driver and have driven across various states, to quote a recent trip where I had to stretch my ability, after a long day at office I started at around 8 in the evening from pune to Jaipur. Had dinner at around 10 near sangamner, a tea at nashik at midnight, another tea and morning routine at around 5 in the morning near Madhya pradesh border. Breakfast near Ujjain at around 8.30 after which I rested for around 20 minutes. One mistake I did was took a shortcut from indore to Kota via Ujjain-Agar-jhalawar and the road was completely destroyed and under construction partially, I had to drive in first or second gear most of the time, reached Kota at around 4 in the evening and had lunch, continued driving and reached destination at around 9 at night.
One thing which I enjoy while driving is old hindi songs. Lata, Rafi, Kishore, Kumar sanu, Udit Narayan etc. are the best companion for me when the occupants in the vehicle are sleeping. Sometimes the co travellers also blame these companions for falling asleep.
There are quite a few advantages of driving at night, most of the city's enroute are asleep and there are no traffic issues, highways are free from traffic and between 3 to 5 you won't find many truckers too. Sometimes, i have seen no vehicle on national highways for 30 to 40 kms. You just need to be careful about wildlife crossing the roads.
If you are a good night driver there are some benefits too, if you are from pune or mumbai it would mean spending two extra days in Goa plus a 10 a.m check in is pocket friendly. One can have a dip in the sea and snooze off after a nice lunch, absolutely ready for the nightlife.
Given all that one must know their comfort zone and night driving is not recommendable if one is not used to it.

[VVN]

I have done Mumbai - Bangalore overnight many times in the past and may still have to. Avoiding it all together is the best thing possible but as you rightly pointed, sometimes its necessary. The following things helped me.

1) I am not a fan of music 24x7 either and prefer a quiet cabin after 2-3 hours of music. But I do keep some heavy metal in the background to keep my mind engaged. I choose music with lyrics which the mind can listen to and sing along.

2) I stop as soon I feel a slight heaviness in the eyes. This is non negotiable for me even if the last stop was 2 mins earlier. I get out, walk around the car for a bit and move on.

3) I took this advice from the forum - Not keeping the Air Con too comfortable. This actually induces sleep. Slightly uncomfortable.

4) If I have a co passenger, that person will not sleep next to me. They can move to the backseat and sleep but not next to me.

5) Playing a game with the mind in identifying cars on the road. Something that engages your mind but not so much that you get distracted.

[nimishlalwani]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I used to say if you cannot change the roads, change your car, that keeps you engaging on the same routes. .

Absolutely agree with this. A few months back I had to leave around 7 pm from Mumbai towards Ahmedabad. I was driving my Avventura Abarth and I could not be more awake driving it. The way that engine pulls, your self preservation keeps you wide awake.

Doing the same trip in my EcoSport AT leads to frequent breaks and at least one power nap. In the Abarth, I couldn't sleep even after reaching there

[dijkstra]

A lot of good suggestions from others. For me, when I feel uneasy on the wheel, i turn off the music and try to listen to the engine's sound as I modulate the a-pedal. Being a relatively new driver I enjoy checking out the acceleration at certain rpms.

Interesting podcasts also help. Lex Fridman has an enviable collection of interviews with people from all walks of life (from criminals to scientists to economists) on his youtube channel. I usually download a few I like and listen on the go. But this only works if others on-board don't object.

[tiagoatrix]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Driving is that activity which should keep one wide awake.

Well said.

I find driving the most enjoyable thing in the wee hours of the day, when the rest of the world is asleep.

No matter how much caffeine /tea / chat you have during night drives, a proper sleep or a good nap before long drivers is the only thing which will keep you attentive behind wheels.

So, never do a night drive if you hadn't slept for at least 6 hours in the last 24 hours.

Machine can work 24*7, humans can't.