Road Conditions, Weather, and Mountain/Night Driving (Nepal DOTM Category B)
Mountain roads
Most Nepali crash scenarios in this domain involve hill roads: single-lane sections, blind bends, drop-offs without barriers. Keep left, sound the horn on blind bends, and reduce speed before the bend, not in it. Watch for landslides, fresh rockfall, cracked road edges and streams crossing the surface. On descents the downhill vehicle yields to the uphill one.
Night driving
Drive within the range of your headlights: at 50 km/h you need well over 30 metres to stop, more than dipped beam shows. Dip your lights for oncoming traffic and when following. Do not stare at oncoming headlights; look at the left edge of your lane. Unlit pedestrians, cyclists, livestock and parked trucks are the classic night hazards in Nepal.
Weather
- Rain: reduce speed, increase the gap, expect the first ten minutes to be the most slippery.
- Fog: dipped beams and fog lamps, never main beam, which reflects off the droplets and blinds you.
- Ice and frost: shaded north-facing slopes and bridge decks freeze first.
- Water crossings: check the depth and current first; if it is fast or above wheel height, turn back.
Worked example
You enter a fog bank on a mountain pass. Correct action: slow to a speed you can stop from within the visible distance, switch to dipped beam and fog lamps, follow the road edge line, keep well back from the vehicle ahead, and be ready to stop.
Traps that cost marks
Main beam in fog. Driving with hazard lights flashing while moving. Overtaking on a blind mountain bend because the road "looked clear". Assuming the road is dry just because the sun is out.