Chapter 4: How to Drive in Fog: 7 Expert Tips to Guarantee Your Safety
Driving in fog sounds like an impossibility as you move along in a dreamy, white blur. The fog is a risky weather condition faced by drivers.
Dense fog can reduce your visibility to nearly nothing. Each year, fog causes many accidents and massive pile-ups, as drivers are not able to clearly see the road in front of them.
At some point, you may be forced to drive through fog and when that time comes, follow these tips to drive safely:
1. Use Low Beam Lights
Switching to high beams can reduce your visibility. In most situations, high beam headlights usually increase your visibility, but in fog, they reflect from the water molecules in fog, making it look thicker.
Most vehicles come equipped with special fog lamps or fog lights, which may increase your visibility or not.
2. Use Windshield Wipers
The fog might cause water droplets to collect on the windscreen, and that could hinder your visibility. You should put them on even on a lower setting.
3. Turn on the Defroster
As fog typically takes place in high humidity, it’s recommended that you use the car’s interior defrost feature. It’ll help to dry off inside the windows of the vehicle.
Try not to wipe the windows with a piece of cloth or rag. This action won’t only cause the car windows to smear, but it’ll also distract you from the road.
4. Go Slow
Drastically, reduce the speed when driving through fog. You might only be able to see a few feet ahead of you.
That means that you’ll only see obstacles, turns and other vehicles when you’ve already reached them.
Thus, keep the speed low so you can have adequate time to notice oncoming vehicles and other obstacles and react accordingly.
5. Don’t Slam on Brakes
When you approach a foggy area, the first thought to cross your mind would be to suddenly stop and think about what to do next. Note that other motor vehicles are right behind you and are also headed to the same fog.
Stopping at the center of the road in reduced visibility will up the odds of being hit from the back by an approaching vehicle. Besides, if you stop the car, you might cause a chain reaction plus a major pileup.
So, the best thing is to adjust to a lower gear as you press the brake pedal slowly.
6. Keep a Larger Distance between You and the Vehicle Ahead of You
You should keep a greater distance between your vehicle and the one ahead of you. While you don’t want to completely lose sight of a visible object in front of you while in fog, ensure there’s enough distance between your vehicle and the one before you.
If you feel the foggy atmosphere is disorienting or overwhelming you, pull over to the road side and turn on the hazard lights. Fog is usually common early morning and will often fade away as the sun rises. If you’re driving in heavy fog at night, you should take occasional breaks to give your eyes some rest.
To get more guidance on how to drive safely through fog, consider booking a driving class at Pierre Paul Driving School today.