International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 12 Issue: 09 | Sep 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
DIFFICULTIES DURING NIGHT DRIVING, CAUSES AND CASE STUDY
Rajshri Bhaisare1 , Vishal Chandrakar2
1M. Tech student, Dept. of Civil engineering, shri shankracharya technical campus Bhilai C.G. India
2Assistant professor, Dept. of civil engineering, shri shankracharya technical campus Bhilai C.G. India ***
Abstract – This research was done to know the nature and risk factor associated with road accident during night time driving in a tier two town of India which is Durg. It was seen in different newspaper, reports and government data that night time accident is more fatal and injurious than that of day light time due to lack of visibility. In this study we analyzed and found different small but impactful causes and difficulties during night driving that are minor in nature but induce serious road accident. Nonfunctioning of street lights, cattle resting on road, pedestrian without reflecting mean, fatigue, vision deficiency of road user, excessive vehicular speed are some basic causes which promote night time driving difficulty and accidents. This causes discomfort to driver as well as passenger traveling on night.
Key Words: Visibility, Accident, Night driving, Road user, Reflector, Light, Eyes, Vehicle
1.INTRODUCTION
Inthisworldabasicmeansofconnectivityistransportation. Anditisaprocesswhichiscarryout24/7.duringdaytime the sun light is present hence it is easy to travel by using differenttransportationmeansbutduringnightthemajor issueisvisibilityspeciallywhenwearetalkingaboutroad network. In our country India, there 4 basic modes of transportationi.e.roadrailairwaysandwaterways.Inour country road/highways are most frequently used transportation facility. Which also affected from largest numberofaccidentandfatalinjuriesamonganyoftheother modeoftransportation.Mostofthisaccidentareduetopoor visibility less lighting and fatigue of driver and this major causesarehitsveryhighonnighttimehencenighttimeroad accidentsareincreasingdaybyday.staticssaysthatnight accidentsaremoreduringnighttimeanditsaroundmore than 60 % in India. According to Hindustan times they reportedthatroadaccidentareincreased4%duringnight time between 2019 to 2023. Poor visibility have broad spectrumtostudyit'saboutdriver'svision,tiredness,mental status,anger,fear.
Weatherisalsoplayimportantaspectduringnightdriving. foggyweatherorrainynightsarereducevisibilityofdriver also the fatigue during night enhance is effect on human bodywhichmaycauseinconveniencefordriverhimselfand otherpedestrian.Otherfactorofpoorvisibilityonnightare absenceofillumination,nopropermarkingonobstructions, lackofinformation.
InIndiamostofthehighwayareblacktopwhichmaygive poor experience during night if proper measures are not takenbyauthorities.toimprovethenightvisibilityinblack topsurfaceitisessentialtoadoptdifferentretroreflectors and reflecting elements such as strut, pavement marker, reflectivetapeetc
2. METHODOLOGY
This study will done to know the difficulties and causes during night driving and know the discomfort to driver duringnight Astheresearchareaisaboutdifficultyduring nightdrivingvisibility,forthatwedrivedifferentfrequently use vehicle on road of district Durg state Chhattisgarh country India. This road are state highway, major district road and village road owned by state public works department.Weuse4-wheelvehicleand2-wheelvehicleto studyaboutnightdrivingdifficulties.wesawthatcausesof nightaccidentareveryminorwhichhavetocomeinlight.
2.1. ANALYSIS OF CAUSES OF NIGHT TIME ACCIDENTES
1. Drink and drive
Drinkingreducespersonsconsciousness.Itaffects neuronalandbrainfunctioningofhuman.inIndiaitisoften seen that people drink after evening. To returning there hometheyuseroadwaysduringnightatthattimelightingis
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 12 Issue: 09 | Sep 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
notsoproperandpersonitselfnotsoconsciouswhichlead accidents and fatal injury. drunken person also affects anotherroaduser
2. Lack knowledge of head light use during driving
Some person does not know about the feature of vehicle, whichareprovidedtocounterlowlightsituation.InIndia majority of vehicle have two head light feature says high beam and low beam. Some vehicles are come with fog reducer light. In general, high beam and low beam are recognize as upper and deeper. When there is no any opposite traffic on the road upper or high beam is use to increasevisibilityforlongdistancevisiontoreadtrafficsign boardinruralhighwayitalsohelpstolocateanyanimalwho iscrossingtheroadatnight.Whereasdeeperorlowerbeam is use for providing road closer to the vehicle. It provides surrounding of road just near to wheel. Basically, lower beamisfrequentlyuseinurbanareawhereotheropposite lane traffic is more. Knowledge of those functions are not muchspreadinsocietyhencepeopledoesnotutilizetheir head light according to situation. Redundant use of high beamdisturbsoppositesideroaduser;thismayaffecttheir eyesandmaketemporaryblindtothem.
3. Low amount and distribution of light flux from the lamp
Lowamountoflightreducevisibilityonroaditalsoaffects to get idea of person or animal who are moving on road without any reflecting element. Wrong selection and bad layoutoflightisonlywastageoffund.Sometimecoverlight get sludge which restrict proper distribution of light. nonfunctional street light are also just an extra article on road.
Duringnighttimeitisdifficulttoroadusertojudgesmall potholeswhichareusuallydoesnoteasilyrecognizeduring night.Thispotholesarelocationwheredepressionstorage ofStromewateroccurswhichmaydamageandalterbinding ofroadmetal.
Flexiblepavementisbasicallymadeupofbituminouswhich isblackincolour.Ifproperlighteningisnottherethanthis blacktoppavementgivesglareonroadduringmonsoonand wetcondition
Volume: 12 Issue: 09 | Sep 2025 www.irjet.net
6. Drivers fear to drive at night
VehicleisnecessityinIndiatomoveoneplacetoanother place.Sometimeuserisnotsoconfidenttodriveatnightdue tolowvisibility.Theattitudeofthattypeofroaduseraffects otherroaduserandfinallyitledtowardaccident.Theroad user reaction is based on PIEV, that means perception, intellection,emotionandvolitation.Duetofear,emotional timespanincreasewhichincreasereactiontimetohandle the situation. This whole delay makes another road user confusetotaketheirstep.
7. Fatigue
It is basic practice in India that most of the people doing thereallworkindaylighthoursomekilometersawayfrom theirresidence,afterworkroadusergetexhaustedtillnight. This fatigue makes vehicle driver tired and less attentive towardtrafficcondition.Thiscauseseriousaccidentonroad.
8. Cattel resting on road
InIndia rural roadarebasicallynational highwayorstate highwaywhicharesituatednearthevillage.Thecattlesfrom villagecomeonroadandsittherespeciallyinrainyseason asroadarecomparativelydrierthanotherlocation.During nightduetolackofelectrificationandlightningthisanimal arenotvisibletoroaduserwhichcausecollisionwiththem.
9. Pedestrian without any reflecting means
Specially in village road there are not proper lightening. Pedestrian are also not carry any reflective means like vehiclehaveandanylightwiththem.Drivercan’tseesuch people and get collide with them cause serious and fatal accident.
10. Glare of vehicle which is coming from opposite direction.
Unnecessaryuseofhighbeambyoppositeroadusercause discomforttootherroaduser.Thisimposesglareeffecton oppositedriver’seye.Glareeffectisnothingbutscatteringof lightwithintheeyeswhichreduceclarityandincongruityof vision.Ultimatelythisconditionmakestemporaryblindto roaduserandcauseaccident.
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 12 Issue: 09 | Sep 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
11. Brightness of background
Sometimeatsamelanesomebrightobjectisplacedorbright vehicleismovinginfrontofdriver.Italsocausesglareon eyes.driveratthatcasenotjudgethefurtherroadcondition and cause collision with another vehicle which may be besideofthatbrightvehicleonsomelane.
12. Time available to see the object
This heading is basically termed as sight distance. Sight distance is important factor to avoid accident on road. During night time we saw that our intelligence and emotionalreactiontimeislittlebitmoreascomparetoday lightbecauseofadditionalfearandconsciousness.
13. Lighting layout and their placement
Light layout and their placement play important role for nightvisibility.Generallylightpoleisprovidedalternateside oratmediantospreadlightthroughout.
14. Road condition
Road, especially flexible pavement which are subjected to different type of failure like alligator crack, pot hole, longitudinal crack, rutting, frost heaving and bleeding are notrecognizeproperlyduringnighttime.
15. Improper sight board
Duetountidinessofauthority,someroadhavingsignboard justafterkerb.AsperIRCthesightboardshouldbe2to3 meteraround2.5meterawayfromkerb.Itshouldbeplace 100meterinadvancefornormalcurveand150mawayfor sharp curve. Sight board should be 1.2 meter above the groundforgoodvision.
16. Lack of information about turning intersection or stoppage
During night driving, information and board provided by highwayauthorityareveryhelpful.Ifpropermarkingand reflective mean are not there at intersection or turning it causeconfusiontodriveraboutimpendingroadcondition like turning etc. this location are zone of cross merging whichhavemajorconflictpointonroad.
17. Road maintenance activity
Duringnightdrivingifproper“workinprogress”boardis nottherethanitcausefatalinjuriestoroaduser.Daytime visibilityismorehenceroadusercanjudgeroadcondition. But during night there is low visibility hence road user unabletoseeimpendingroadconditionandgetcollidewith suchmaintenanceactivity.
18. Lack of parapet wall at bridges
Somemajordistrictroadorvillageroadwhenpassingover anydrainage.Theyarenotfacilitatedwithcrustbarrieror otherparapetmeantoprotectroaduserduetoignoranceof authority. During day light bridge width is visible to road userbutduringnighttimeitisdifficulttodistinguishbridge boundary if proper parapet wall, crust barrier, railing or guardstoneisnotprovidedwithsuitablereflectingaid,road userfallfrombridgeandmeetfatalaccident.
19. Vision defect of road user
Because of night blindness which is a disease at which personisnotabletoseeduringnightandcolorblindnessof human,someroadusermeetsaccidentorcausediscomfort tootherroaduser.Althoughbeforeissuingdrivinglicense, eyecheckupismust.Sometimetemporaryillnessofeyeand age,visiongetlowsuchdrivercreateconfusioninroad.
20. Absence of gate and light at level crossing.
Levelcrossingisaroadwayrailwayconditioninwhichthey bothcrosseachotherat90degreeoranotherangle.Some rural places absence of gate in level crossing and lack of lightening cause accident which harm both road user and trainpassengers
3. CONCLUSIONS
Itisdifficulttodriveatnightifroadcondition,trafficdesign andlightingarenotsoproper.Butitisalsoafactthatmost oftheIndianruralroadsuchasNHSHMDRarenotlighten duetoeconomicaspect,maintenanceclumsinessandcost.At thatcasereflectingarticleandretroreflectingmaterialplay vitalroletodirectroaduseratdarkandscarynight.
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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 12 Issue: 09 | Sep 2025 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
PART-V LIGHTING FOR GRADE SEPARATED JUNCTIONS,BRIDGESANDELEVATEDROAD(GROUPD)
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