Dangers of driving in the Fog

[Fuman]

52 car pile-up, with two dead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yImtEwEl6xY#!

To fellow members, a friendly reminder when you see dense fog:
stop your car, don't enter the cloud of fog. If you have no choice, then turn on your hazard signals.

[boyracer]

That looked nasty!!! You are right with your suggestion to stop the car, to wait it out. But it seems that in this day & age we have difficulty waiting for anything. You enter that dense fog thinking "everything will be all right, I'll drive a little slower". You can do everything right, but it only takes that one idiot!

[kjmckenz]

What a horrible incident! :(
My thoughts go to all those that were involved with wishes of a speedy recovery, and to all those who may have lost a loved one.

Isn't the autobahn the highway with no speed limits??
I've heard of some accidents happening on that highway when a slower car tries to merge into the fast lane... :/
The fog in the video doesn't look that dense.

But yes, hazard lights are easy to use in fog and should be used whenever visibility is very low! I actually love using my hazard lights. Even for something simple like carrying heavy objects. I like it when bad drivers try to avoid me. Gives me less work to do trying to avoid them. :)

[aris]

. To fellow members, a friendly reminder when you see dense fog:
stop your car, don't enter the cloud of fog. If you have no choice, then turn on your hazard signals.

I don't know about stopping?

That might not be safe... The best thing to do is slow down and make sure your lights are on and your 4 ways

[yearoftherat]

Stopping on a major highway in the GTA when there is a fog is just asking for trouble.

[JKshift]

stop your car, don't enter the cloud of fog. If you have no choice, then turn on your hazard signals.

Speaking as someone in the emergency services world, you really don't want to stop at the side of the highway if you can avoid it at all. Especially in fog, when approaching vehicles can't see and don't expect to find a stopped vehicle.

[yearoftherat]

A friend of mine was killed in a situation like jkshift described. A truck stopped in the middle of the fog and he wasn't able to stop in time to avoid it.


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[mazdabetty]

This happened in Ottawa just a few years ago... 72 car pileup on the highway. Insane!! Fog + ice + Ottawa/Quebec drivers = Very, very bad combination.... :chuckle

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/12/14/12148641-qmi.html

[Hoodzy]

I hope you mean stop the car as in Pull it over to the side of the road and stop.

[Fuman]

I think there is a slight misunderstanding, so allow me to rephrase.
If you are currently in an area with high visibility (i.e. cars from way behind can see you) but you see a dense cloud of fog in-front (i.e. if you enter the fog, you'd won't see much). I'd suggest you pull over, and do not enter the dense cloud of fog. [something I learned from ILR winter driving school]. The reasoning behind this is, people think differently. Some people will think to drive faster to get out of the fog faster, while others will slow down. Also, one does not know if there is an accident within the cloud of fog.

People can use their own judgement, and decide whether or not to use this advice based on the situation at hand. I have yet to see a situation where I needed to pull over on the 404 due to Fog. Pulling over on the major highways carries its own risks at well (as mentioned previously by JKShift).


In my years of driving in the GTA, there was one occasion where the visibility was literally 5-meters (on Major Mac between Kennedy and Warden); it was like a scene from a horror movie. In this case, I couldn't see the guy with his hazards infront of me until he was 1-car length ahead.


@kjmckenz - not the entire highway has no speed limits. There are stretches of no speed limits when it is on the outskirts of a highly populated area. [members feel free to correct me if I am mistaken]

[ZeroChalk]

Coming from driving in snowstorms/squalls where the visibility is a few feet the last thing you should do is stop and pull over. Someone is going to hit you! Im not quite sure about the logic about speeding up into fog... low visability so i'll go faster. I would seriously question if they should be on the road if someone told me that.

If you can avoid it.. sure.. if you can't than... well... do your best to procede cautiously. I remember there was some sort of report/study... if you get caught up in a pile up to stay in your car. Though I figure, if you are closer to the guard rail to evac and jump to the otherside or as far away as possible (in to the tree line).

[STeeLy]

I hope you mean stop the car as in Pull it over to the side of the road and stop.

Not even. If you see fog ahead and there's an exit, take it and find a place on side road to pull over, even better if there's a gas station or something close by.

If there are no exits before you hit the fog, take the earliest exit and find a place on the side road to pull over.

I am very much against stopping anywhere on the highway, even if you do stop on the shoulder. In DENSE fog, you might have trouble seeing the lines more than a few feet away from you, you could end up driving on the shoulder and not even know it.

[boyracer]

Isn't the autobahn the highway with no speed limits??
I've heard of some accidents happening on that highway when a slower car tries to merge into the fast lane... :/


Actually there are areas on the autobahn where there are speed limits. Watched a program on the discovery channel about the autobahn. The police there have some crazy police car's... some of which are Porsche's. No way you can out run the cop's there

[bluemazda3]

in a dense fog never pull over with your four ways on.. because the guy coming from behind might follow your lights and rear end you.. you can try to pull over far from the road (perhaps on the grass) and turn off the car and all lights.. I saw it on the discovery channel.. (Worst case scenario... i think) But the best thing to do is try to avoid it if possible or drive with caution...

[ElectroJay]

oh man, that's dirty :(