Driving in Foggy Conditions

The city of Delhi experiences foggy weather in the months of December and January due to winter season. It becomes imperative on the part of all motorists to follow certain precautions to avoid accidents and related injuries.

Motorists are advised to observe certain norms to cope up with fog:

• Know your destination and plan the route before you set out.
• Keep vehicle in good condition. Make sure everything is in working order, especially lights, brakes, tyres, windscreen wipers, radiator, battery and car heating system.
• If possible keep a high visibility jacket and torch in the car so that you can see and be seen in case to get out of the car.
• Keep safe distance and avoid tail-gating.
• Drive with lights on low beam, High beams get reflected back in the fog and impair visibility. Turn on fog lights if visibility is reduced (less than 100 meters).
• Reduce speed and slow down, watch speedometer, don’t drive beyond headlights.
• During fog and occasional rain, road could be slippery. One should be careful on slippery roads.
• Honk periodically to let other drivers know your presence.
• Do not attempt to overtake other vehicles.
• Use the right edge of the road or painted road markings/central divider as a guide and be patient.
• One needs to keep an eye on the road and use one’s ears more carefully to judge traffic that cannot be seen.
• Turn off music and don’t eat, drink, smoke while driving.
• Do not stop on a freeway or busy roads.
• If fog is very thick, it is best to pull over somewhere safe and wait for the fog to diminish.
All motorists are advised to follow these precautions for their own safety as well as the safety of other road users.

If you have other precautions that you take when driving in fog and would like to share with rest of the residents of Delhi, please share them as a comment to this post.

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