How can fog cause accidents for drivers?

It is easy to have an accident when driving a car on a foggy day.

In winter, dense fog often occurs in the North. In cities, fog often occurs in the early morning and can also occur in the late afternoon. In highland areas, fog occurs in both the morning and afternoon, sometimes all day, causing severe impact on visibility when moving.

Dense fog reduces visibility for all road users. Fog makes it difficult for drivers to see the road, and the risk of traffic accidents is always present if you are not focused or if there are fast-moving vehicles.

Especially on mountainous roads, fog makes driving difficult and dangerous.

Moving on mountainous roads in dense fog, visibility is reduced to only 5-7 m, making it difficult to observe the road and vehicles in the same direction or in the opposite direction. Therefore, driving is very difficult, easily colliding with the vehicle in front, the vehicle in the opposite direction or even going off the road, crashing into the cliff or falling down the cliff.

Thick fog caused the truck to overturn.

Driving in foggy conditions when it is raining is even more difficult and dangerous. The driver's visibility is limited due to fog combined with slippery road surface due to rain, which can easily lead to traffic accidents...

A study by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that fog caused about 38,000 car accidents each year, including an average of 600 deaths each year. The number of accidents was higher than the total number of deaths from tornadoes and floods combined.

Experience driving safely in foggy conditions

When driving in foggy conditions, drivers need to be extremely careful to ensure safety. Here are some tips that can help drivers stay steady on the wheel when driving in foggy conditions:

- Use lights properly

Lights are a must if you want to drive on foggy roads, because they not only help increase the driver's visibility but also help other vehicles see your car. Therefore, before setting off, quickly check that all the lights are working or not.

Do not use high beams (high beams) in fog. High beams will cause the fog to form a wall of light in front of you, severely reducing visibility.

Use low beam headlights when driving in fog. Turn on the fog lights and if the fog is thick, use the hazard lights (flashing the turn signals continuously) to warn the vehicles behind.

Driving in foggy conditions, drivers need to be extremely careful to ensure safety.

- Activate the car windshield drying function

Fog is often accompanied by low outside temperatures, which directly affect the windshield surface. The inside of the windshield will quickly become foggy due to the amount of water vapor that begins to condense. Therefore, when detecting signs of fogging due to condensation, the driver should activate the windshield defogger function via the button usually integrated on the center console to avoid limited visibility.

- Open the car door slightly and turn off the music

When driving in foggy conditions, open your car windows slightly so you can hear better what is going on outside the car.

Driving in foggy conditions requires more than just your eyesight; sometimes you need to use your ears as well. So, turn off your car’s audio system and lower your windows a bit so you can hear the cars around you.

- Look carefully when passing.

It is best not to overtake when driving in dense fog. Visibility of just a few metres ahead is not enough to ensure safe overtaking, especially on hilly roads with narrow lanes.

If you decide to overtake, observe carefully to see if there are any oncoming vehicle lights, choose a long, straight stretch of road, accelerate quickly and decisively to overtake, then quickly return to your lane.

- Go slow, keep your distance

Keeping a safe distance on the road reduces the risk of accidents because you will have more time to deal with dangerous situations.

When visibility is limited, it is best to slow down so that you can react if an obstacle suddenly appears in the thick fog.

When driving in fog, do not suddenly brake. Instead, release the accelerator and only use the brakes when absolutely necessary. Sudden braking will surprise people behind you and can create a chain reaction of accidents.

- Stick to the road markings

Due to driving habits, many people often look at the taillights of the car in front to follow in the fog. This often leads to multiple accidents because of not being able to handle the situation in time.

Look at the white line in the middle of the road, and follow it in your lane, you will be safer because you are always in the middle of the road and can handle situations more easily.

- Do not stop in the middle of the road

Absolutely avoid stopping your car in the middle of the road or in crowded places when there is fog. In case of a car accident, try to quickly pull the car to the side of the road, turn off all white lights, turn on the emergency warning lights and leave the car.