Winter is here! While this season is offering the much-needed respite from the scorching heat, winter has its own downfalls. With snow, fog, and slippery roads taking over the world, driving in winter conditions becomes a hazard.
In countries such as India, driving in fog is quite a hassle. If certain winter driving tips are followed, it will become easier to navigate the roads and have a safe trip. In this blog, we will discuss certain winter driving safety tips that will make driving in fog much safer for you.
Dangers of Driving in Fog
Before we indulge in winter driving tips, let us briefly make you understand what dangers await if you need to drive in foggy weather.
Driving in thick fog is always a challenge, primarily because it disrupts your field of vision. When you are behind the wheel, the fog will distort your visibility, rendering it hard to see the road ahead, other vehicles, pedestrians, animals, road signs, debris, etc. This lack of visibility drastically increases your chances of encountering an accident. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, over 38,700 vehicle crashes are recorded every year due to fog with over 600 deaths annually.
This unusual weather condition may also hamper your perception of distance and ability to gauge whether another vehicle is stationary or moving. At times, the dense fog may also result in you miscalculating your own speed.
Just like it becomes easier to drive in the rainy season if certain measures are taken, even with fog on road it is safe to drive if you diligently adhere to some suggestions. Here are safety tips for driving in foggy conditions.
Tips for Driving in Fog
- Take Your Time: The most important thing while navigating foggy weather is to drive patiently. Give yourself extra time to reach your destination.
- Avoid Overspeeding and Overtaking: Lack of visibility means that overtaking and speeding should be avoided at all costs. On the contrary, gentle driving with light braking is the best way ahead.
- Use low-beam lights: In fog, it is always advisable to use low-beam lights as high-beam lights get diffused, making it even more difficult to see. Low beam lights like rear lights will make your car visible to other road users. Also turn on fog lights, if you have them.
- Don’t Tailgate: It is an important winter driving tip to maintain a safe distance from other vehicles. Since it is harder for vehicles to see each other, this will help you to avoid hitting other vehicles and apply sudden brakes without any damage.
- Following Lane Discipline: Don’t change lanes abruptly in fog. Just as the fog hampers your vision, the ability of other drivers to see you will also be significantly reduced. Therefore, following lane discipline is necessary to have a safe trip.
- Be Alert: Due to the dangers associated with driving in fog, it is important to always be alert and avoid distractions. Rely on your ears and open the windows a little bit to help guide you about your surroundings as your vision is compromised. Safe driving habits such as lowering the music volume, avoiding phone usage, etc. are also equally important.
- Stop and Rest: If while driving, you come across very dense fog, make it a point to stop your vehicle for some duration. Wait until the fog clears up a little and then start driving. Never compromise your visibility while driving to reach your destination quickly.
- Keep your Car Clean: The foggy weather will cloud up your windows and windshield. This moisture build-up further decreases your visibility. Make use of windshield wipers and defrosters to clear these surfaces. Be sure to adjust the settings to match the condition outside.
- Early Signalling: Develop the habit to signal earlier than usual to alert other vehicles about you. As it is hard to see through the fog, giving other drivers some extra time to see your signal is always safe.
- Rely on the Speedometer: The properties of the fog create the optical illusion that you are driving slower than your actual speed. Therefore, do not increase your speed while driving in fog simply by making a visual guess, instead keep a watch on the speedometer.
Owing to winter weather road conditions, the risk of accidents increases at an alarming rate. As an Enterprise, you can take steps to safeguard the lives of your field employees.
Let SafetyConnect be your company’s eyes during such weather conditions. The driving behaviour analysis and dynamic data provided by SafetyConnect’s Driving Safety Solution aids the company in identifying personal driving negligences. Your company can ascertain compliance with these winter driving tips via our uniquely curated features to suit your demands.
You can schedule a demo here.
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