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Driving in the fog:

D

Dick

Well-known Member
This morning while driving, it was so foggy that I could only see about 3 car lengths in front of me, it was really socked in. I was amazed how many cars were driving without their headlights on. A car driving behind me, without headlights on, would appear and disappear in the fog. I would say 3/4 of the cars on the highway didn't have their headlights on. All I could think of was, what is with people nowadays. Just because they can see I guess that's all they're worried about. As I remember headlights were originally on cars so other oncoming traffic could see you, which is important, especially in the fog.
I drive with my headlights on all the time, and they don't come on when I start the pickup, I have to turn them on. My thinking is, anything that will help others to see my rig is helpful.
Either people are just not thinking or maybe they don't want to waste the power to run their headlights.
When it's foggy or pouring down rain or snow, let others know you're on the road, turn on your headlights.
Thank you.......
 
If the truth was known those that drive without their head lights on in the fog are in fact driving in a fog when it is not foggy.
 
I haven"t come across that problem. Instead, the number of people driving with their high beams on at night, fog or no fog, has become an epidemic. It"s prevalent even on divided highways where everyone"s going in the same direction and curves are mild, and there"s no need for high beams. And then headlights are much brighter than they"ve ever been. It"s great for people driving those vehicles, but very annoying for everyone else on the road.
 
We have a Subaru in which I leave the light switch on all the time but the lights are only on when the ignition is on. This is a handy system which also prevents the error of leaving the lights on when parking. I am sure it does take some extra energy but I do not think it is a huge difference, probably.
Zach
 
NOT THINKING!!! Is the problem. Many people today DON"T think about anything but their own little world/self. It is the way most are raised today.

They cause a problem and then whine that it is some else's fault. Then there are ten lawyers/judges that agree with them and hand out other peoples money to them.

Read all the safety decals on things these days and think about who is stupid enough to need to be told not to put their hands under a running lawn mower????

As far as the lights not turned on. I don't really like the driving lights that come on all of the time. They make some cars more dangerous. My wife's car has them. The front head lights come on automatically when you start the car but the tail lights do not. So she drives around half the time without any tail lights. She did not catch that the dash lights where off. That is the only way you can tell the tail lights are not on.

I also think that you should have your head lights on if it is raining. So why not make the head lights/driving lights come on when you turn on the wipers????
 
That drives me nuts! I have to cross the road with the tractor to feed one herd of cattle and I'm taking my life in my hands every time I have to cross the road in the fog. Seems like nine out of ten cars coming out of the fog don't have their lights on. I generally shut the tractor off,listen for traffic,then start it and high tail it across while I pray my fool head off.
 
I especially love the white cars driving around in the snow or rain with no lights on - Ohio law now requires lights on whenever your wipers are on, now if it was only enforced......
 
I know what you mean Dick, I"ve noticed the same thing u here in the great white north, both fog and snow reduce visibility, but lots of people can"t find the light switch. I put some of it down to the "automatic" lights feature on some modern cars, turns the lights on when ambient light drops, but in fog or snow during daylight hours has too much light to trip the sensor. I"ve also noticed that a great many drivers drive with the vehicles "fog" lights on at night time... i ask someone one day why and they replied because it looks cool...

what can you do about idiots????????
 
Many moons ago when I was driving my little Saab Sonett that was on 46 " high I was coming back late at night from a Navy Reserve meeting I had about 10 miles of open road and it was real foggy you could barely see your hood ornament. I happened to look down beside the car and noticed it clear down there I scooted down just a bit in the seat and I was below the fog you could see for miles down there. So I kicked my speed up to 85 MPH and sat back flying past all the other cars who were up in the fog. I know they thought where does that idiot thinks he's going. Was real neat to just fly past all those cars that couldn't see past there nose when I could see for miles in the clearest night that I have ever been in. Went over a bridge at the railroad and zap couldn't find my hood ornament.
Walt
Ps in Oregon we mostly all drive with our head lights on even in the summer, just seems to be the thing to do here.
 
Take one day and do nothing but sit around a watch people go threw their daily life. You will find that most go around with no respect for others. If it does not affect them personally they could care less.

I like the lights on my truck and leave them on all the time because they go off and on with the key switch.

I think Canada has a law that all new cars MUST have day light driving lights. The U.S. has put off this law because some say it makes it harder to see motorcycles if all cars use headlights 24/7.

Our state has a wiper on lights on law but getting that inforced is a joke. What cop is going to stop a car in the rain for such a minor infraction; but it can be used against you in a accident.

We have one toll road they will not let you on if your head/tail lights are not on and or working when it is foggy.
 
I agree driving in fog without headlights on is dangerous for everyone on the road.

For the last 10 or 15 years, many cars have automatic headlights that automatically switch between daylight running lights and low beam headlights as it gets dark. Could the fog, or the headlight's reflection off the fog, have been bright enough that the automatic headlights wouldn't turn on the headlights? Regardlessly, the drivers should have used the manual headlight switch to over-ride the automatic switch to keep the headlights on.
 
The law requires that headlites be on at all times the vehicle is being driven in Yukon Canada. Day or Night. It is just a habit for me now & I always have them on when I go back to the states. People look at me funny sometimes & even comment about it when I pull into the coffee shop or where ever during browd day lite but I think it is a great idea. When I used to ride motorcycles I had enough close calls where someone didn't see me that I got to where I ALWAYS had my headlite on. I think it only makes good sense. Gerald
 
Ya,I've seen as many as 3 a day. Has to be the worst place in the county for wrecks. I know the cops have said that that stretch around those curves is the worst in the county for car/deer accidents. Wrecks in general in my opinion.
 
I was driving in blowing snow the other day and noticed the same thing. Most of the drivers without lights were on the cell phone and driving like it was a sunny day. Jim
 
Know what you mean see it all the time. Been driving now for well over 1.5 million miles and getting very close to 2 mil. But yep see it all the time and people do not understand the head lights are not just for them seeing but are there to make it so they can be seen. Head lights being on are 100 times more of a safety device then a seat belt ever will be. Of course that is also why a lot of newer cars when you start them up the head lights come on that way people need no common sense to use them
 
people are idiots nowadays, as you said lost in there own world. I have driven home from the farm in a whiteout, and half the cars dont have there lights on. NYS law is lights on when wipers are on! thats a joke, I do it, but i couldent tell you how many people dont put lights on, including some state troopers! People are oblivous to anything around them. And how about usieng a turn siginal? half of them dont even do that anymore.
 
I find that happens to me sometimes now that two of my vehicles lights come on automatically. Now instead of it being a reflex to check the lights it requires the thought to remember to check the lights since they are usually on anyway. I think these are the unintended consequences of "improvements". On the other hand my minivan will not quit "dinging" at me until I put on my seat belt. When I would drive it quite a bit I automatically put on my seat belt in every car just out of reflex. That is probably a good improvement in my mind.
 
There are just more idiots on the road every day. They move to the far side of the road from my machinery when I am in the field! But then try to get that same piece of machinery down the road, and see if they show any caution at all!?!
My pickup has daytime running lights, and automatic headlights. But it doesn't do the job. There are conditions where I turn the headlights on manually, and there are times when the headlights come on unnecessarily. The running lights are a waste. I have people crossing the line coming at me all the time. After almost getting t-boned this last summer, it finally dawned on me that on a bright day, my running lights don't show up at all, and apparently my silver/grey pickup doesn't either! Next one will be fire engine red.
 
Guys, Amen!! Dick. In Fog, Rainey, Inclement weather of most any kind I find most people drive at least 20 to 30 mph toooooo fast for those situations! Lights or Not!! Can't legislate for Stupidity either willing or not!
My work car has automatic light and I like them a lot they just come on when it is the least little bit dark, other than bright Sunshine.
Later,
John A.
 
My lights come on when I turn on the wipers. But there always on anyway for safety's sake. The ones that are riding in the mist/fog behind me on my bumper in the lane beside me want to get road rage because I change lanes, cutting them off, not seeing them there with their lights off......seems like they would get the message.
 

I agree, intelligence is seldom found behind a steering wheel..BUT...
Ever wonder why Cops do NOT write tickets to people who leave their FOG (Driving?)lights ON, while meeting traffic or following another vehicle..??? Used to be Cause for a ticket, and USED to be common Courtesy..

IF I am driving in heavy FOG..same as if I was sitting at a RR Crossing at night..I DO appreciate it if the car behind me drops to Marker Lights only..

You can see much better in fog, if the idiot behind you at LEAST shuts his stupid FOG Lights OFF...
I, too have multiple 7-Digit odometer count, long-haul.. there have been plenty times I would have LOVED "3 car-lengths" of vision in fog..
It's getting bad, when you turn the Spotlight straight Down, so you can see the White, broken line passing by, at your DOOR...
Yes, I wouldn't have been in that either, had I not run into it, on the way up the mountain...!!
The conundrum is, in that fog..what would YOU do when an automobile passes you and disappears in the fog ahead of you..??
You KNOW, when they get ahead, they are going to STOP somewhere because they are going to be completely Blind...
Those things can give you premature Grey Hair..!!!

Ron..
 
That last point is the one that always worries me too. Also happens in a blizzard where you can't see anything until there are tail lights right in front of you and you have to stop, realizing that now YOU are the sitting duck. Not such a worry in a truck, but waiting for the truck lol
 
Well what you say is a yes and no thing. I have found that many times people either drive way to fast or way to slow. Example in case is if a person is driving on snow/ice they drive to slow and spin out before they reach the top of a hill so they end up in a ditch due to going to slow but then on the other hand the guy with 4 wheel drive going to fast and finds that when it is time to stop on snow and ice the person can not stop so again ends up in the ditch. Speed is a happy medium to fast can be as bad as to slow and you have to learn which is which
 

fact or fiction? I've heard that you will hit nore deer while driving on high beam because you will blind the deer. They have more of a chance of seeing you with the lights on low beam.
 
I agree with the lights on in fog, they are more to let others see you than they are for penetrating the fog. I don't completely agree with the headlights on in the daytime, unless ALL vehicles have them on as they are supposed to be in Canada. Reason is when I am driving my eyes tend to focus on the oncoming traffic that has their lights on, and it (for me at least) is easy for me to not to see the car with the lights off. I have to be very careful passing in those conditions. The other reason is the idiots that have their lights on high beam.
 
Helps also to turn out dash lights while in fog as light in cab can throw eye focus off. An i again got in left lane an concentrated on light ahead an road or line at side.Always tried to have eyes focused far as i could ahead.
 
Timely subject. We just walked in the house about ten minutes ago from a twenty mile drive from town. I always drive with my lights on,neither here nor there,we reached the open hiway. Car behind us with just the marker lights on. Fine at the time,10 minutes passed it was darker windy blowin snow still no lights. Another five or ten full darkness still no lights the wife and I are starting to discuss this fool in derogatory terms. Car coming towards us still only markers behind. In the sideview mirror brake lights, blue and red lights and the opposite car does a U turn and Mr. Marker gets pulled over.
I smiled broadly!
 
Daytime running lamps have been mandatory here(Canada) for over 20 years. The lights are always on, but in crappy weather I turn all my lights on for increased visibility, and I have noticed that most other drivers do as well. Headlights do way less then taillights for seeing another vehicle. Headlights don't penetrate fog that well
 

Problem, in a large Loaded Truck is that you
Cannot keep your speed up..you have no way to know when you are approaching a grade and end up running 25 or so..
Then, when an impatient driver dcides to pass you..you are not only expecting to see a truck come out of the Fof behind you..but also expect to suddenly Run Over the car that just disappeared into the soup Ahead of you..Pitch-Dark in either direction..!!!
All you can do is keep moving and stay in the Right lane..4-Ways On, Spot straight down and hoping to run out of it..
 
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