Car Magazine-Safe Driving in Fog-Cars24.in

Hints for Safe Driving in the fog

A safety gap which is too small during speed which is too fast is the main reason for accidents in the fog. If you act on the following rules you make your way safely through the fog disaster: Reduce speed drastically if bank of fog appears. The speed has to be adapted to the visibility. If you see only 50 meters, according to the law you can drive with a maximum speed of 50 km/h.

	Increase safety gap when driving in fog. Only then you can get your car to a hold in time if the car which is driving in front of you suddenly begins with braking maneuvers.
	Switch on the headlights already when the first waft of mist appears, this way you see better and most of all other drivers can see you better. In autumn you should even more than in other times pay attention to have working and clean headlamps.
	The fog tail lamp can only be switched on if in fog the visibility is below 50 meters. Because of high danger of glare it has to be turned off immediately in sections without fog and at higher visibilities.

Driving in the fog demands full concentration on the driver, so frequent rests are recommended. We recommend to switch off the light when parking at rest areas so that other incoming drivers can recognize the car more easily.

The nonsense with the yellow fog glasses

Problem: Every year multiple pileups in the fog. What can car drivers do to reduce the danger? We have asked the Motorwelt readers - here are their answers.

"Simply put on your sunglasses or other toned glasses", advices our Expert. "This way the back lights of the other cars are well visible".Does he have his information from the Internet? Indeed, there you can find such slogans: "Professionals focus on safety. Better visibility in fog through Global CV adverse weather glasses - and therefore more safety in traffic.

Attention - you should forget this tip very fast if you take care of your health! Because it belongs to the world of myths. The experts agree on their declining decision.: With the fog glasses - sadly - you neither see better nor more contrast. The opposite is the case. But why certain drivers believe to see better when they have got that yellow thingy on their nose? Mainly because those who wear the fog glasses see their environment dunked in yellow and friendly light. Because of that they have a subjective impression of seeing better. This so called yellow pane effect is only of psychological nature and does not come along with any advancement of visibility.

Misleading slogans like the one form Global CV should vanish very fast from the Internet.

Experts: Fallacy. Don't waste your money on fog glasses! Because everything you put between an eye and an object makes the visibility getting worse. The driver in front then has only a brightness of 80 or 90 percent. That reduces the important contrast which is so critical for the estimation of the distance. Believing that you see better with a fog glass is an illusion. The world seems just more friendly - that's all!

Therefore other fog hints are more usable. "Before driving in bad weather, clean the windshield from the inside". "Because within a few weeks a dirt film emerges which leads to dangerous light dispersions." Besides, the corporate consultant replaces very often the wiper blades: "If you don't do that you got to accept wiper blades which are scratching and streaking. This makes the situation even worse." There is one point on which everybody agrees: Reduce speed! But, as our expert experienced - if your driving a long time through the fog your driving speed increases without that you even notice it.

His recommended counter action: "I always chose a low gear. Normally you react on switching to a higher gear if you hear the sound of high engine speeds.. But if you really try to inhibit that you have to drive slower to reduce the motor sound."

He relies on the trick with the open window: "To orientate myself on the sounds of other cars I open up the side window only a little bit. That keeps you awake and really helps a lot".

Which speeds are the right ones during fog depends on the visibility. Many remind how good one can use the reflection posts which appear on the road as an orientation. Is the fog so thick that you can only see the next post you are not allowed to exceed 50 km/h. If you can already see the second post when passing the first one (100 meters visibility) you are not allowed to exceed 80 km/h.

"Please use the right lane of the road!" That's the most important point. Our expert has come to the conclusion during many drives that insecure drivers which are trying to hook up with the driver in front of them (and during that they attract attention with sudden braking maneuvers), often use the mid lane of the road. The left lane is according to his observations used from people which are driving way to fast: "Therefore the right lane is most of the times free.

It is very helpful for a better visibility when he dims the instrument lighting of his car on a minimum level: "That's a must - otherwise I would be glaring myself!"

When it comes to the topic of glaring most of the writers see red literally. "Why is it that many are still making so many mistakes when using the fog tail lamp?" ask some people. Just like them the crude ray of the lamps is pricking in the eyes of the major part of the writers if they're not used in the right way. Therefore here are some rules of using them :

	Fog tail lamps are only allowed when visibility (caused by the fog) sinks below 50 m (1 reflection post distance).
	That means at the same time: With fog tail lamps switched on it is allowed to drive at a maximum of 50 km/h. In reality you can see cars rushing on the foggy highways with a speed which is at least twice as much.
	Because of that strong glare effect the lamp has to be switched off at once on fog free sections or at higher visibilities . The same for column and traffic jam.

Talking about the fog tail lamp quite a lot car drivers need some coaching. According to experts this should come from the radio stations: "During strong fog they should announce these rules again and again!".

Many readers are hoping to get protection against brainless glarers from the automobile industry. "The control lamp has to be made so big and placed in a position that nobody can ever fail it.", wishes a reader. "Additionally a warning sign for allowed maximum speed of 50 km/h should be visible." Besides, demands a reader from the automobile manufacturers should realize the thing which since years has been the standard with the rear shield heater, namely that the fog tail lamp switches off automatically when ignition was disconnected. This way you would not see any glarers driving around even days after the fog."