When to start??

Starting a drive from South Dakota to Tennessee with my cat in March. Would it be better to start driving over night or do the trip in the day? I've looked into all the saftey risks and stuff about driving at night. But, this will be my first time driving anything bigger than a pickup truck, so to say I'm nervous about accidentally hitting someone elses car is an understatement... I want this trip as planned and easy as possible since its a longer trip and my cat is getting up in age.

Starting a drive from South Dakota to Tennessee with my cat in March. Would it be better to start driving over night or do the trip in the day? I've looked into all the saftey risks and stuff about driving at night. But, this will be my first time driving anything bigger than a pickup truck, so to say I'm nervous about accidentally hitting someone elses car is an understatement... I want this trip as planned and easy as possible since its a longer trip and my cat is getting up in age.