Tips for Long Distance Drives

Long distance drive? Here are a few tips worth keeping in check.

Cruise it out
It is tempting to mash your right foot into the floor and swerve around the traffic throughout your journey whenever the mood takes you. But in reality, driving fast and rash takes a toll on your brain and eventually you will feel drained out a lot sooner than usual. Try and maintain a cruising speed throughout your journey. And no it doesn’t mean at 150 kmph; you have got to stay within the speed limits defined. This will not only help you keep your head just right but will also help you save a considerable amount of money and time, which you would have otherwise spent on refuelling the car and yourself.

Stick to your lane
Now, you might have noticed idiots driving in their cars on the highway, thinking of themselves as Schumacher siblings and trying to get out of a little patch of traffic they encounter by changing lanes without indicating and without lifting off their foot from the accelerator. This might seems exciting but in truth it is the worst thing you can do on a long drive on the highway. Sticking to one lane and not going to and fro is much less strenuous for the brain and hence you stay alert and fresh much longer. Best of all, cars travelling on the highway with you will eventually start predicting on how you will change the lane and what speeds you are sticking to. This in turn increases the safety aspect on the highway.

Anticipate the traffic movements
While it is good to relax on your long run, it is equally important to read the traffic movements ahead and behind you. While driving in a city like New Delhi, the car is never going above 20 kmph and even if you are behind an erratic driver, which you mostly are in Delhi, you can manoeuvre your car and stay safe. But the story is totally different on a highway, where average speeds that a car can easily achieve is about 60 kmph; trying to manoeuvre at those speeds is a lot tough. Once you are done reading the road ahead, it will be a lot easier for you to carve out a path which requires minimum braking and less of lane changing.
Stay safe!