Charlotte Drivers Need Plan for Safe Driving in Foggy Weather

Statistically speaking, fog is the most dangerous conditions that motorists face on the roads. Drivers in Charlotte, Concord, Fort Mill, Indian Trail and surrounding areas need to know just how risky for is so they can ensure they take proper precautions to avoid becoming involved in a car accident. A personal injury lawyer knows that fog doubles the risk of a crash. Drivers have a responsibility to adjust their speed and driving technique to bad weather. If they don’t, they can become responsible if their negligence causes a motor vehicle collision that injures others. 

Risks of Driving in Fog

Smart Motorist recommends waiting out fog whenever you can, in order to avoid becoming involved in a collision. However, there may be a time when you need to drive in foggy weather. If you are on the roads and you are faced with fog, tips to stay safe include:

• Turning on your headlights. Some people find that headlights interfere with forward visibility a little and thus are tempted to turn them off. If you do this, other motorists will not be able to see you and you significantly increase the risk of a collision.
• Keep your high beams off. While headlights are a good thing, high beams can be very dangerous as they reflect off the fog.
• Avoid stopping on the road. If you feel you cannot continue to drive safely because of the fog, you should ensure you pull over to the road shoulder and completely remove your vehicle from the road. Other cars are not going to be able to see you if you are stopped in their path and your vehicle could be struck.
• Keep your eyes on the right line on the road, instead of on the center line. This is the “fog” line that will help keep you in your lane and avoid diverging into oncoming traffic.
• Drive slowly and keep your eyes on the speedometer. Some motorists begin to creep their speed up as they become acclimated to the fog. With reduced visibility, driving too fast is dangerous.

A lot of research has suggested that going too fast is a big cause of fog-related accidents. However, a recent study published by the National Institutes of Health has suggested that this may not be the case. The study suggests that past research assessing driver behavior in fog had adjusted the contrast on everything that the driver sees, which is not realistic conditions for driving in fog but is instead more similar to driving with a foggy windshield.

When research was conducted using a simulator with different contrast effects that more accurately simulated real foggy weather, the research revealed that people do tend to naturally slow down in fog (as they should in order to stay safe).

While this is good news, it means that the major cause of fog related crashes may not be driving too fast. Drivers will need to do more than just slow their vehicles down if they want to help keep themselves and others safe during the foggy weather over the course of this spring.