Your Bangalore-Chennai night drive can be perilous
and threaten your life
Jojo Puthuparampil
Are you planning a night drive From Bangalore to Chennai to meet your
friends or be with your family this weekend? Beware: If you are going
to hit the Hosur-Krishnagiri-Vellore route—which many prefer to the
one via Chittoor—for the first time, you may get lost due to absence
of sign boards or inadequate pointers which may not capture your
attention in the dead of night. Even worse, a litany of trucks that
jump lanes or are parked precariously on the roadside without hazard
warning flashers can make your trip perilous.
The death of a family of five, including an infant, near the toll gate
between Shoolagiri and Krishnagiri last week when their car was rammed
by a truck that came from the wrong direction, has raised concerns
over the safety of motorists who traverse the route at night. This was
followed by the late-evening death of a 23-year-old software engineer
near Krishnagiri when a truck collided with his car.
Tippers that saunter ahead with heavy elongated logs without flashers
at the rear end clearly pose danger—blinded by headlamps of vehicles
that approach you from the opposite direction, you may ram one of them
from behind. These trucks often jump lanes, threatening your life.
Testing your diligence behind wheel, at times trucks are parked on the
roadside without flashers—if you are driving fast, you are unlikely to
notice these silent demons and may risk your life by hitting them from
behind. Trucks can also be menacing at the couple of stretches where
the road is expanded to six lanes—despite sign boards indicating
‘diversion’ and asking motorists to ‘slow down’, they often brashly
refuse to follow lane disciple, imperilling the lives of other
motorists.
There are stretches where the median is not visible as reflectors
placed near to them are missing. If you are distracted by gleaming
vehicles that come from the opposite direction, your car or SUV can
bang into the median and be toppled. When you are driving at high
speed, even potholes—which are aplenty throughout the stretch between
Vellore and Sriperumbudur—can be deadly at night. Giving vent to your
ire at National Highways Authority (NHAI) for charging more than Rs300
at half a dozen toll plazas between Bangalore and Chennai for
hole-strewn roads will not help; driving slowly and diligently is the
better option.
Unfortunately, road indicators too hardly help. For instance, when you
are around 90 kms away from Bangalore you need to turn left to enter
NH 48 from NH 7 to continue your trip towards Chennai. However, with
poor night visibility, you may miss the slender indicator that reminds
you about the left turn. If you miss the turn and head towards Salem,
it may take quite a while to realise your folly and turn around as the
next toll booth—where you can verify if you are on the right track—is
beyond 30 kms.
Similarly, once you cross Sriperumbudur, you have to turn left to the
bypass road to head towards downtown Chennai via Koyambedu. As the
left turn is quite narrow, first timers tend to drive straight ahead
over the broader Poonamallee flyover. There used to be no sign board
to guide you towards left. Recently someone placed a slender cardboard
indicator to amend NHAI’s oversight but that is hardly visible.
Drunken revelers who overtake you often from the wrong side at
reckless speed add to your challenge. Refined insulation and almost
soundless engines that have become a hallmark of modern cars make you
clueless about the vehicle that is crossing rear quarter blind
spots—areas towards the rear of the vehicle on both sides which cannot
be seen through rear-view or side mirrors—without honking. If you turn
your car towards the overtaking vehicle for any reason, a crash is
likely and it can be fatal. Trying to overtake these offenders in turn
can be clearly dangerous as you would never know who they are and what
they are up to. Vehicles that suddenly enter the highway from cross
roads and loitering cattle that appear on the road out of nowhere too
are lethal.
While the 350-km route can be covered in four to six hours (depending
on your speed and the number of breaks you would take), setting a
rigid deadline to drive the distance and trying to adhere to it can be
frivolous, as you may be forced to compromise your safety which is
what you should primarily be worried about while driving at night.
Precautions for night drive
* Beware of trucks that jump lanes or are parked on the roadside without flashers
* Slow and follow sign boards at stretches where road is expanded
* Beware of vehicles that may be crossing blind spots without honking
* Don’t step on the gas beyond 100 km per hour as visibility is poor
* Resist the temptation to overtake other vehicles at high speed;
reaching home safely and be with your family is more joyous than the
pleasure of emulating a racing car driver
* Don’t manoeuvre curves at high speed; your car can be toppled
* If you want to take a break, halt near a toll plaza instead of
stopping at a deserted area
* Keep a couple of friends posted on your itinerary
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