10 Safety Tips To Drive In Fog - Winter Driving Tips

As the winters are here, we thought of sharing some driving tips to you to deal with it. The major issue that we face in northern parts of our country is dense fog. It poses a serious threat to our road security. If you are inept to deal with it then you got to read the following tips for driving safely in fog.

● Don’t go out driving for pleasure

Well this doesn’t imply that you are not allowed to go outside. All you are supposed to do is be patient and wait for the fog to go away or get lighter.

● Check your headlights

This is something that can make a huge difference in those foggy winters. Before you are set to leave for the commute make sure to check headlights, to see if they are working properly or not. In India, we observe a common mistake that drivers make is that they rarely check if both of the headlights are working or not. Checking both the lights is very important as if any one of the headlights is not working then the vehicle coming from the opposite direction (front) at high speed might assume your car/SUV as a two wheeler and this will cause an accident.

● Fog lights

Use your fog lights, but only if the fog is thick enough. Remember that they will work only with the low beam headlights turned ON, so make sure you do that first. Don’t let them ON after the fog is over as you could end up disturbing other drivers on the road.

● Heater usage

Fog often causes condensation inside the cabin. Most cars come with good heating systems that are fitted near windscreens which can demist the screen fast and should be used whenever there is condensation in the car as you need a clear windshield to drive effortlessly.

● Check windshield washer fluid and wipers

In winter wipers are your best bet to fight that fog. You need to check that the car’s wipers (front/rear) are working perfectly. Also, see that the windshield washer fluid is there as using wiper without it can damage the wiper blades.

● Use your ears

Well you must be feeling a bit weird, but yes we said: “use your ears”. It is normal in the fog that a vehicle coming from the front or behind might not see your car. So, they will honk when they are very near to you. This means you always need to be alert to hear horn sounds coming from outside.

● Keeping distance

Now this is something that we need to follow even in normal weather. But during winters it becomes essential to keep a distance from other cars as there is a high probability of hitting each other’s car bumpers.

● Slow down

A little delay in reaching home, meeting or function won’t hurt you. Unless it’s really urgent don’t drive at high speed in fog. This is not only dangerous for you but also for others using the road.

● Remember the road conditions

One thing that people often forget about fog is that it coats everything with a damp, moist layer. That includes the road surface too, so keep in mind that there may be potholes anywhere that can give you unnecessary problems.

● Do not stop your car any place

When you cannot see where you are going, a natural way is to slow down or even stop. In fog, never stop on the road. If you need to stop then see a place that is away from the traffic and stop there. Keep your hazard lights ON, but turn OFF your headlights. If the headlights are ON people will think that a car is going or coming from that particular direction and will be misled to follow that track.