Sheppley Crossing + Fog = No Lights?

Strider590

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-23970047

Should be banned quite frankly, anyone driving with no lights on in adverse conditions should have their licence revoked permanently!

Retrogamer

The problem i normally experience when driving in the fog is although people have their headlights on, they rarely use the rear fog lights.

Bit strange though as i see a lot of people drive at night with front fogs on when there's no fog.

vikingaero

Most rear fog light use is unnecessary. People seem to automatically think: "Fog!" and switch on their rear fog lights at the merest hint of fog. If you can see the car 100m ahead of you then you don't need rear fog lights - so if you can see the vehicle or streetlights 300m ahead of you then you don't need to use your rear foglights. And you don't need them in queuing traffic....

victor2

vikingaero wrote: »

Most rear fog light use is unnecessary.

Even more front fog light use is unnecessary!
Seems to be a "look what I've got" syndrome.

Hintza

Should be banned quite frankly, anyone driving with with rear foglights on when visibility is greater than 100m, should have their licence revoked permanently!

alastairq

Should be banned quite frankly, anyone driving with with rear foglights on when visibility is greater than 100m, should have their licence revoked permanently!

Oh dear, that'll be me then! Better surrender all my licences, get sacked, and live off the State while I can?

Because, today, going to work , the fog was [as forecast] of a patchy nature!

In other words, could vary in visibility from one 200 metre stretch to another.

Short stretch of road, visibility 100 metres-plus, then immediately entering a patch where visibility was down to less than 50 metres.....only to arrive, a few seconds later, at a clearer bit, and so on and so forth.

My rear foglight switch would have fallen off the dashboard in fright!

So, I left it on [it's only one small light anyway] until I was convinced the visibility had stabilised sufficiently to turn it off.

But I bet none of you can accurately judge how far 100 metres is...or what the visible distance is, under any circumstances.

So, visible distance is alway going to be an arbitrary measurement... a best guess, really?

In which case, I'll keep all my licences, and continue working where I am at present, until I'm at least 75 years old [health permitting]....just to block up the job and prevent younger people getting in......and I'll continue to receive my winter heating allowance too!

ado

Strider590 wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-23970047

Should be banned quite frankly, anyone driving with no lights on in adverse conditions should have their licence revoked permanently!

This RTC had more to do with inappropriate speed than anything else, with drivers continuing on into thick fog without slowing down. You should be able to stop in the distance you can see so if visibility reduces you should slow down. Fog lights might have helped but they would not have stopped the RTC happening. Drivers using their brains however would have stopped the RTC.

alastairq

I agree...the most likely initial cause is excessive speed for the conditions, but I don't entirely blame the average drivers involved.

Consider this?

How many times has this forum alone engaged in argument over how drivers who drive more slowly on such roads are a 'danger', and should 'surrender their licences', and 'shouldn't be allowed', etc...?

It has got to the stage where the average driver is actually brainwashed into being afraid to drive more slowly.

People who only possess what amounts to a superficial knowledge of driving are actually frightened of being thought 'too slow' on such a road.

'Slow' is now seen as dangerous...ergo, 'fast' is safe?

Until we, as a driving nation, come away from the love affair with 'speed', these incidents will continue to occur...as they have done for decades.

angelil

^^ Yes...frankly I'm amazed that so many vehicles could have such disregard for speed and stopping distances. The fact of this being a 130-vehicle crash was totally preventable.

Lum

The problem is indeed people piling into the fog (I'm guessing it was fine until you went uphill on the bridge a bit) without adjusting their speed or turning their fogs on.

Can't believe that article is trying to blame a lack of lighting on the bridge. I always find that streetlighting actually reduces the visibility in the fog.

Sorry there's no-one to blame but the muppets who drove into the back of other people due to going too fast for the conditions, with some contribution from the people who didn't turn their fogs on.

For a while I've been thinking that many people from the South East just don't know how to drive on unlit roads. I guess this proves it.


Edit re: The "too slow" thing in AlistairQ's reply that turned up while I was writing this. Yes we get people on this forum ranting about slow people but I can't say I've noticed that being taken onboard out in the wider world. People just drive at whatever the hell speed they want, whether it's limit+25mph on every road, or 40 on every road or whatever formula people have come up with to decide what's safe/legal.

Strider590

Lum wrote: »

with some contribution from the people who didn't turn their fogs on.

They're saying that some people had no lights on at all

Something I see very often on those cold misty mornings.