Safety Tips to Drive Foggy Season

[Neil.Bhujbal]

Tip 2: Avoid passing or changing lane - Its always safe if you follow the car who is in front of you. You don't need to be act and feel like a super hero and change lanes.

The above Tip says not to Change the Lanes & therefor follow the car in front of you.

Where as AHI's Tip meant - To follow the tail Lights of the Car in front of you & if its not there than follow the curves of the hill.

To which i opposed and said its not a good habit & you should follow the road,curves/markings etc rater than driving on some other persons Judgment.

 

[350Z]

Foggy Season, Drive Carefully!

Gosh! Fog, Ask me as Akash said.
I almost regularly drive on roads early morning these days and we have a real dense fog here, Especially on the open roads near India Gate where visibility is almost close to Zero. The cars run at speed of cycles, Yes that’s true! Sometimes cyclists overtake us after starting from a signal. All this scene happens in early morning and after 8-9AM, Things get better when fog starts clearing, I’ll try to capture couple of pics for you all.

About the Safety tips in foggy season driving, Some of the major points have been already covered in above posts but few from my side;

• Thanks to the person who invented Fog Lamps! Yes, They are helpful and not just for show-off. Switch ‘em on during foggy season.

• The cars which are not equipped with fog-lamps, My advise would be to switch the headlamps ON but say NO High beams. It will rather increase the chance of an accident.

• I’ve seen tons of people switching the Hazard Warning lamps on when there is heavy rains or fog. This doesn’t helps and what will you do when taking a turn? No indicators. (Hand theory?!) Better follow above two points.

• During Fog, There is a lot of mist on all the windows of vehicle. Cleaning with cloth will not prove to be of much use, As it tends to happen again. I switch the wiper to intermittent mode for a minute or two, so that some of mist is cleared. Then switch on the front and rear demister. Side windows will still have less visibility but they are hardly used to view the road.

• Don't race! There are many who still over speed despite of dense fog and I should tell that it could prove to be very dangerous. Recommendable speed during fog is 20-40Kmph depending on the condition.

These are few points, I’ll keep pouring more with the time.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[Auto Hub India]

Good points AHI.

I think its neccessary to switch-on, rear fog-lamp, if you have. My Punto has got it.

Thanks RSM.

If one dont have fog lamps they should install in front and rear for fog.

Coming to the point of following front vehicle's rear, its necessary as always one cant follow hill curves and hillside patches as the visibility is less,so when one drive on the lane which does not have the hill on his side and have the gorge on his side, at that time its necessary to follow front vehicle's rear lamps but with extreme caution, but people who drive in plains have no idea at all of what happens practically onroad during these extreme driving conditions, so no issues with their comments.

 

[350Z]

Following the lamps of vehicle in front won't really help! It is better to drive yourself with eyes and ears open. Most important factor is to slow the speed and maintain adequate distance between your and the vehicle in front.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[Akash]

@350Z and AHI- Good points


I got a chance to get behind the wheels of my uncles WagonR during my visit to the expo this year. The day was a foggy one(my train too got 12hrs late).I drove with him from Nizzamuddin stn to Connaught Place the same evening which took almost an hr and a half. Thanks to delhi traffic and dense fog that day. Since it was early evng hours i didnt switch on headlamps, but the fogs did their work well. I am not used to such fog so it was a good experience for me.

 

[RSM]

Following the lamps of vehicle in front won't really help! It is better to drive yourself with eyes and ears open. Most important factor is to slow the speed and maintain adequate distance between your and the vehicle in front.

Drive Safe,
350Z

Vibhor, i fail to understand how you can follow front vehicle if you are not following front tail lamps. The visibility is poor and you won't be able to see the front vehicle, except rear fog/tail lamp.

 

[Neil.Bhujbal]

Coming to the point of following front vehicle's rear, its necessary as always one cant follow hill curves and hillside patches as the visibility is less,so when one drive on the lane which does not have the hill on his side and have the gorge on his side, at that time its necessary to follow front vehicle's rear lamps but with extreme caution, but people who drive in plains have no idea at all of what happens practically onroad during these extreme driving conditions, so no issues with their comments.

I agree to a certain extend. But even the vehicle in front of you is being driven by a human.He is driving it on his Judgment following the road,curves,etc.Even if he is following someone elses rear light than that person must be driving on his own Judgment following the roads & curves.

So what i meant to say was it is better to Drive on your own Judgment rather than following someone elses tail light.

@ AHI - Though i have not driven on extreme foggy roads like you have, i have had some good experience on long big stretches of roads which have no markings,street lights etc & where vehicles just follow the other vehicles tail lights in High Speeds & that's pretty dangerous

 

[Auto Hub India]

• I’ve seen tons of people switching the Hazard Warning lamps on when there is heavy rains or fog. This doesn’t helps and what will you do when taking a turn? No indicators. (Hand theory?!) Better follow above two points.

350Z

Yes Vibhor its true that using HAZARD is not advisable but for following reasons it is advisable in dense foggy drives--

1. As the colour of the HAZARDS are yellowish so they scatter less than the headlights in fog and can be noticed from large distance compared to the headlights in fog.
2. As they blink so they catch attention of the upcomming traffic easily in low visibility.
3. As we all know that our vehicles' bodyside contours are such that they show little outward protrusion and it cause difficulty for oncoming traffic to decide what is the width of the vehicle from its headlamp position, but as the bodyside signal lights are placed on the bodyside ends so if they blink then it is easy for the upcomming traffic to decide its width,you may say that one can put on his right signal, but in that case he will again misguide his following rear vehicle and upcoming vehicle at the same time,so HAZARDS are useful.
4. And incase of changing lanes and turning to some other roads, one can put of the HAZARD and put on the required direction signal, its easy.
   

 

[350Z]

Vibhor, i fail to understand how you can follow front vehicle if you are not following front tail lamps. The visibility is poor and you won't be able to see the front vehicle, except rear fog/tail lamp.

See, I tell you what. Actually, The practical situation is much different. When you move close, Around 1-2 Meters of area slowly starts getting visible, Although you can not see the distant objects.

I'd have to agree with Neil's view that blindly following front vehicle means we're not driving at our own judgment. What if the front vehicle is not cautious enough and going to collapse with another object in front or drown in an open man hole?

As I said, Best is to keep your ears and eyes open, Drive at slow speed and maintain an adequate distance. That should be enough for safety and as well as to enjoy the good weather.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[Akash]

Yes Vibhor its true that using HAZARD is not advisable but for following reasons it is advisable in dense foggy drives--

1. As the colour of the HAZARDS are yellowish so they scatter less than the headlights in fog and can be noticed from large distance compared to the headlights in fog.
2. As they blink so they catch attention of the upcomming traffic easily in low visibility.
3. As we all know that our vehicles' bodyside contours are such that they show little outward protrusion and it cause difficulty for oncoming traffic to decide what is the width of the vehicle from its headlamp position, but as the bodyside signal lights are placed on the bodyside ends so if they blink then it is easy for the upcomming traffic to decide its width,you may say that one can put on his right signal, but in that case he will again misguide his following rear vehicle and upcoming vehicle at the same time,so HAZARDS are useful.
4. And incase of changing lanes and turning to some other roads, one can put of the HAZARD and put on the required direction signal, its easy.
   

I think this will surely work. One can turn off the Hazard lamps when turning or changing the lanes. I know it will get a bit inconvenient but for safety reason it can be done since not all cars are equiped with rear fog lamps.

 

[Auto Hub India]

Coming to the point of following front vehicle's rear, its necessary as always one cant follow hill curves and hillside patches as the visibility is less,so when one drive on the lane which does not have the hill on his side and have the gorge on his side, at that time its necessary to follow front vehicle's rear lamps but with extreme caution, but people who drive in plains have no idea at all of what happens practically onroad during these extreme driving conditions, so no issues with their comments.

Vibhor I have mentioned to follow the front vehicle's rear lamps but also mentioned with extreme caution,I think you missed that.

 

[RSM]

See, I tell you what. Actually, The practical situation is much different. When you move close, Around 1-2 Meters of area slowly starts getting visible, Although you can not see the distant objects.

Exactly, till you reach very near to front vehicle, you have to get idea from their tail lamp itself.
But for bumper-to-bumper, you can't follow the tail lamp, and i agree that front vehicle will be visible.

As I said, Best is to keep your ears and eyes open, Drive at slow speed and maintain an adequate distance. That should be enough for safety and as well as to enjoy the good weather.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[Auto Hub India]

Vibhor, when it is tight traffic where you have to drive back-to-back with the front vehicle in hill-cities,during that you cant maintain safe distance more than a meter or even less, but one have to rely on the front vehicle's rear lights, or its back , more precisely, as there is no other option, but as I said before, one should be damn slow and should be extremely cautious and should be alert of the front vehcile's activities,stops and go-s.Open ears and eyes dont help so much in foggy drives as the windows are up, one hardly hear the outside noise and horns and if one can hear,he cant decide from which direction it is coming and due to low visibility eyes dont help alot but alertness helps alot which involves experience,human perception of his environment, and gadgets on the vehicle, all combined together.

 

[Neil.Bhujbal]

Vibhor, when it is tight traffic where you have to drive back-to-back with the front vehicle in hill-cities,during that you cant maintain safe distance more than a meter or even less, but one have to rely on the front vehicle's rear lights as there is no other option, but as I said before, one should be damn slow and should be extremely cautious and should be alert of the front vehcile's activities,stops and go-s.Open ears and eyes dont help so much in foggy drives as the windows are up, one hardly hear the outside noise and horns and due to low visibility eyes dont help alot but alertness helps alot which involves experience,human perception of his environment, and gadgets on the vehicle, all combined together.

In bumper to Bumper Traffic its a different thing.Even if the vehicle in front of you is about to go down from a hill/fall in a valley you come to know & you can brake/stop you car.(because you are that slow in that kind of traffic)

No matter how thick the fog is there is always some amount of visibility when you switch on your lights.
And one should always use that amount of visibility
(If not its better not to drive rather than following some one else blindly)

Anyways chances of bumper to bumper traffic during early morning hours is a rare thing unless a accident or breakdown has happened.

 

[350Z]

Vibhor I have mentioned to follow the front vehicle's rear lamps but also mentioned with extreme caution,I think you missed that.

Yes Vibhor its true that using HAZARD is not advisable but for following reasons it is advisable in dense foggy drives--

1. As the colour of the HAZARDS are yellowish so they scatter less than the headlights in fog and can be noticed from large distance compared to the headlights in fog.
2. As they blink so they catch attention of the upcomming traffic easily in low visibility.
3. As we all know that our vehicles' bodyside contours are such that they show little outward protrusion and it cause difficulty for oncoming traffic to decide what is the width of the vehicle from its headlamp position, but as the bodyside signal lights are placed on the bodyside ends so if they blink then it is easy for the upcomming traffic to decide its width,you may say that one can put on his right signal, but in that case he will again misguide his following rear vehicle and upcoming vehicle at the same time,so HAZARDS are useful.
4. And incase of changing lanes and turning to some other roads, one can put of the HAZARD and put on the required direction signal, its easy.

Some of these points are very much valid but the fact is that Indicators are meant for different purpose, We should try to use them that way.
Switching On/Off Hazard Lamps will be an in-convenient task and most will not even attempt to do it, unlike the people like us who are aware of the reasoning and facts behind it.

Vibhor, when it is tight traffic where you have to drive back-to-back with the front vehicle in hill-cities,during that you cant maintain safe distance more than a meter or even less, but one have to rely on the front vehicle's rear lights, or its back , more precisely, as there is no other option, but as I said before, one should be damn slow and should be extremely cautious and should be alert of the front vehcile's activities,stops and go-s.Open ears and eyes dont help so much in foggy drives as the windows are up, one hardly hear the outside noise and horns and due to low visibility eyes dont help alot but alertness helps alot which involves experience,human perception of his environment, and gadgets on the vehicle, all combined together.

Exactly, till you reach very near to front vehicle, you have to get idea from their tail lamp itself.
But for bumper-to-bumper, you can't follow the tail lamp, and i agree that front vehicle will be visible.

Spot On. It could prove to be useful only to take an idea of front. Not to blindly follow.

Drive Safe,
350Z