What Do You Think About Night Time Driving During The Hot Summer Months?

[Czar Of Poop]

My wife and I are thinking about driving at night leaving TX and heading north to Colo. Never had to do it before but never been in 100 degree temps before. I know it will be a lot cooler so instead of leaving at 8:00am leave at 8:00pm and drive the 350miles. My eye sight is good / no problems. What do you pro's think?

[Tha_Rooster]

I do a lot of night driving and prefer it. If your not used to it, the early morning sun rising hours are tough.

[D in Davie]

Not much. Your DP might be easier to drive than my F53 gasser but the headlights and street lights that reflect off the windshield and side windows is extremely distracting. Eye strain is also a bigger issue at night. White line hypnosis is also a problem when you don't have anywhere else to focus except where your headlights point. I know others drive all day and all night and have never had a problem. The word, "yet" is often left out of the conversation. I wish you safe travels and suggest you turn on your generator and house A/C's to keep cool.

[JFNM]

I do a fair amount of night driving to avoid high temperatures and/or traffic (big cities). I pull over and grab a couple hours sleep when I feel the need. Mighty nice feeling to be napping in my own bed.

I can't think of anything that is wrong with it. Oh, animals - deer, etc... Be on guard if on those types of roads.

[bokobird]

I actually enjoy night driving, minus the missing scenery. I maintain a habit of moving my head around much like I would if I could see things, it reduces the strain and temptation to fall into white line fever. I also turn lights low on the dash to keep things inside less distracting. Keep the CB on if you have one, the night time conversations are much more enjoyable than daytime.

[koda59]

Things to consider:
1. Will you be up all day and plan on leaving after work?
2. Will your wife be staying up with you all night?
3. What roads will you be traveling?
4. If you are not used to driving all night, you will need to be extra careful. Sleep will come upon you slowly and you will not know it till you have run off the road. Depending on your speed it is at least a 7 hour trip. I would consider stopping every hour to hour and a half to stretch.
Safe trip

[Sky_Boss]

Since I rebuilt my head light system night driving is much nicer. So, good lighting is a must.

Adding to others comments, the one thing I HATE about night driving is DA BUGS! You will see a major difference in bug guts with night driving during bug season.

[aboatguy]

For a long distance trip I prefer to drive at night. Less folks on the roads so I usually make much better time. However, ensure you check for road construction. I've been caught in long detour delays, some states schedule projects at night/weekends in order to lessen impact on traffic.

[Selah]

Do the house A/Cs not keep the coach cool enough during the day? If that's the case then driving in the cooler evenings and night might be worth while. However, you will miss so much driving at night. There is more to this style of traveling than just the destination. I'd personally rather burn a little extra fuel running the generator and all the house A/Cs and the dash air together so I could enjoy the trip.

[336muffin]

Niceguy, this is what a LOTof professional drivers choose to do. Wife and I used to own our own tractor and trailer and ran 48 states and Canada. Some roads I have never seen during the day! I have 5million paid accident free miles behind me. I suppose more than half of those were at night in rain, fog,snow and ice. I enjoy nightriding because the professionals come out and the ametueres goes to bed. We can breeze through big cities with the cruise on and make great time a d save fuel. Tires, trans, everything is happier in the cooler and sometimes more dense air. This helps the turbo pack more air and I can hear it spooling up. Oil pressure will be a little higher. Our last Kenworth had 976,000 miles on the original brakes and clutch!
We perk a pot of coffee and SIP on it..........don't gulp down cups of it. It just makes you go to the bathroom to P. DON'T EAT! This will put you to sleep fast. Don't try to prove anything to yourself! This is not the way to do it. Turn the dash lights way way down or completely off. Your gps will tell you what you need to know and the vehicle computer will warn you if something happens. DON'T listen to your favorite CDs..........you already know it by heart and it will put you to sleep beleive me! Listen to the engine, tires and the road and enjoy the ride. Wash all the mirriors and windows inside and out but not with Windex or something simular. I have used Clendo in a aerosol can. This can be found in any real truckstop, imagine that!

BE SAFE and enjoy the ride and let us know how you did.

[charliej]

I rely on my rear camera and mirrors a lot. At night they are harder to judge distance, see clearly for me. Also if it starts to rain at night I find a place to stop for the night, just too much glare.

[ArmandV]

You engine will run more efficient in the cooler night air. I enjoy night driving.

[Lloyd in S.C.]

Next Wednesday night we will leave work, and head to Gettysburg PA. Every year we do the first 3-400 miles at night the evening before. We get over the Blue Ridge Mtns in cooler temps, miss a ton of traffic, and get a bunch closer for the next day.

We don't drive all night, maybe midnight or so. We are wide awake anyway, excited to be off work and on the road.

L.

[Spk64]

We made our first extended night driving trip this past spring. I really enjoyed the lighter traffic and cooler temps. My only fear was pulling into a campground in the late hours. Ended up being a non-issue campground was super easy access and a pull thru site up front at the entrance. Would have just not stayed at the campground but already paid for the night. We had a late start leaving Tampa and made reservations above Atlanta.



Steve