Sheppley Crossing + Fog = No Lights?

victor2

Hintza wrote: »

My biggest problem with rear fogs is when they arte on both sides (and switched on) they can be so bright you just don't notice when the brakes go on and you lose a good few yards before you realise the car in front is slowing.

Agree with that, although the high level/centre brake lights most cars now have does help considerably. Quite a few newer cars also now flash the hazard lights if the driver brakes hard, so maybe it's more a requirement for technology to catch up and improve the situation. Will of course take many years, but a vast majority of cars now have airbags...

Daz2009

Lum wrote: »

All the German makes do that one..

So annoying. Front fogs should mostly be used for when you can't see much beyond the end of your bonnet.

That said, there are certain circumstances where, on my car, sides + front fogs gives you better visibility than both dipped and full beam.

If you can't see beyond the end of your bonnet may I suggest the conditions are too bad to be driving on at all and you should lower your speed to a crawl and park your car up safely at the earliest opportunity

Iceweasel

The whole subject of light use in the UK needs to be tightened up with publicity to improve public awareness, and more rigorously enforced policing.

For example a TV campaign backed up with traffic police issuing advice and warnings rather than fines.

There is a carelessness about lights in the UK that is not shared by the rest of Europe.

We have folks who 'forget' to switch light on.

Others who don't switch them off when the fog or whatever has long cleared.

Then we have the ones who run with fogs on to try to emulate DRLs.

Yet more folks who don't understand the difference between fogs and DRLs.

Then those who say you don't need any extra lights at all.

An additional factor is that with the unrealistic speed limits we have in the UK, people drive to the speed limit, rather than to the prevailing conditions.

Time for Patrick McLoughlin to take action (Who is he? I hear you ask)

Unfortunately as alistairq suggests changes will only happen if we have several more pile ups in fog.

Strider590

Iceweasel wrote: »

Unfortunately as alistairq suggests changes will only happen if we have several more pile ups in fog.

I think this is why DRLs became a requirement, i'm so sick of this govt legislating around issues rather than actually running campaigns to say "OI YOU F**KING IDIOTS, TURN YOUR DAMN LIGHTS ON!!!".

Unfortunately I think they fear giving people too much to think about, we have "drink driving kills", we have "speeding kills", but nothing is done about the other stupid things people do on the roads AND the fact that most of them do so by misunderstanding the highway code.... Bring back the public service broadcast or something!!!

Lum

Daz2009 wrote: »

If you can't see beyond the end of your bonnet may I suggest the conditions are too bad to be driving on at all and you should lower your speed to a crawl and park your car up safely at the earliest opportunity

You are correct, but the key phrase there is "at the earliest opportunity"

There are some roads where if the fog got like that I would certainly not want to stop and most definitely would not want to get out, it's the lesser of three evils.

1) Stop, Get out, walk down the pavementless road, risk getting splatted by someone going too fast for the conditions
2) Stop, stay in car, wait for someone to drive into me.
3) Carry on going, with extreme caution, until somewhere that a safe stop is an option, and just hope it doesn't turn out to be a local dogging site.

#3 is, to me, the clear winner here, even if it means winding the window down and sticking my head out in order to see the centre line, which is annoying as all the moisture will ruin my hair . Better than ruining my car or my limbs, however.

So long as you stay on your side of the line and crawl along at below walking pace, and other drivers do the same, you're unlikely to hit anything and even if you do are unlikely to do much damage.

Key flaw in this is the "and other drivers do the same", but the ones zooming through the fog will be a menace with all three options so it's all about reducing your exposure to risk.

Strider590

As for the guessing as to why people don't put their lights on, my opinion is that it's because they can see the dials on the dash. Which makes me wonder if many of the offending individuals drives cars that have constantly on dashboard lighting.

Lum wrote: »

3) Carry on going, with extreme caution, until somewhere that a safe stop is an option, and just hope it doesn't turn out to be a local dogging site.

Just don't flash your headlights, you'll be fine :rotfl:

Lum wrote: »

#3 is, to me, the clear winner here, even if it means winding the window down and sticking my head out in order to see the centre line, which is annoying as all the moisture will ruin my hair . Better than ruining my car or my limbs, however.

To be honest, i've never known fog bad enough to stop me seeing the centre line, but then i've always had "normal" cars, I can see it being difficult in a 4x4 or a crossover.

Lum

I've never owned a 4x4 or crossover

I think I've seen fog like that exactly once, and only for a very short distance, but then I no-longer live up in the valleys so my exposure to more interesting weather conditions is somewhat reduced.

My point with that post was really about how little front fog lights should actually be used, though it does bring up another interesting point. Most of the people in this crash are from Kent, they've probably never known silly weather conditions, never been taught what to do, never had it covered on a driving lesson or test.

Not really a huge surprise that some handle it badly, especially now we're at what? 14 years of road safety policy that says little more than "Though shalt stick to the number on the sign and you'll be totally safe".

Strider590

Lum wrote: »

Not really a huge surprise that some handle it badly, especially now we're at what? 14 years of road safety policy that says little more than "Though shalt stick to the number on the sign and you'll be totally safe".

I wasn't surprised tbh, not by Sheppley or the accident on the M5 that caused chaos closer to home yesterday afternoon.

The schools have started back, the roads are full of idiots again, stress levels are through the roof, local councils have chosen NOW to start doing road works and people are trying to get to work on time.

I took 25 miles of country lanes this morning, just to avoid 15 miles of idiots. I doubt I got to work any faster (and probably used more petrol), but at least I arrived without the stress.

anotherbaldrick

Lum wrote: »

I've never owned a 4x4 or crossover

I think I've seen fog like that exactly once, and only for a very short distance, but then I no-longer live up in the valleys so my exposure to more interesting weather conditions is somewhat reduced.

My point with that post was really about how little front fog lights should actually be used, though it does bring up another interesting point. Most of the people in this crash are from Kent, they've probably never known silly weather conditions, never been taught what to do, never had it covered on a driving lesson or test.

Not really a huge surprise that some handle it badly, especially now we're at what? 14 years of road safety policy that says little more than "Though shalt stick to the number on the sign and you'll be totally safe".

Only if they have short memories or are young. One of the worst accidents ever happened not far away on the M25 Surrey / Kent border . Fog rolled down the motorway banks and filled the cutting through which the road ran. 26 cars had a colossal pile up and to cap it all a petrol tanker charged into the wreckage and set the lot alight. nine people were killed and the motorway was closed for a week.(Godstone Disaster)

Lum

I did say "most" not "all".

Sounds like people didn't know how to deal with sudden fog back then either :P

Bear in mind that I'm posting this as someone whose commute used to be many miles of single track lane over a small mountain that would regularly fog up and through valleys that would sometimes do it, and I'd still commute that way when the snow was down.