How to keep safe when driving in fog
Car insurance is a necessary but tricky part of driving. When you start, special young persons motor insurance can help you overcome the added expense that your age and experience will automatically add to your rates. In time though you’ll get older and you won’t be eligible for young persons road insurance. When that time comes, your best bet for cheaper insurance is to ensure that you’re eligible for a no claims bonus and that you’re driving record is as spotless as possible.
With this in mind, it’s perhaps even more important for young drivers to be aware of how to drive safely in adverse weather and road conditions. Having just passed your test, you’re unlikely to have driven in some of the worse conditions that British weather can throw at you. Whilst older drivers can draw on experience, for young and new drivers, it’s a good idea to be prepared in advance.
Heavy fog is statistically the most dangerous driving hazard in the UK. If visibility is lower than 200 metres, you’re in fog – and strictly speaking, the safest step to take is not to drive. Official advice says that the simplest and safest solution is to pull off the road and wait for conditions to improve. Of course whilst this is a sensible course of action, it isn’t always possible or practical.
Luckily, there are a few steps that can be taken to ensure that you stay safe when driving in fog:
- As you enter fog, check your mirrors and slow down. Ensure that your brake lights can be seen by lightly touching the footbrake as you go.
- Be aware that fog can change as you drive through it. You may start by driving through a light mist, but in an instant you can find yourself in a thick cloud. Keep in mind that oncoming traffic may be experiencing the same changes from the opposite direction (going from thick to thin fog for example).
- Keep using your windscreen wipers and demisters as you drive. Condensation can slowly but effectively obscure your vision in addition to the limited visibility of fog.
- If you park your car on a main road, make sure you get your vehicle as far off the road as possible.
- Judge how far you can see. If visibility is reduced below 200 metres, then turn on your dipped headlights rather than your main beams. Main beams light up the fog itself, whereas dipped headlights illuminate the road and help others see you. If visibility is lower than 100 metres, you are legally allowed to turn on your high intensity rear fog lights – and you should.
- In severe conditions, you need to slow down – right down. If you can see less than 12 metres (40 feet) then you need to set yourself a speed limit of 20mph, or your braking distance will probably be further than you can see.
- Pay attention to your speedometer. It may sound obvious, but studies have shown that driver’s unconsciously start to take foggy conditions for granted and begin to increase their speed back to normal levels as they drive.