Danger of accident in fog: High speed, no distance: You should not make these 7 mistakes in fog

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Autumn is here again and with it comes the chance of morning fog. Just a light curtain can suddenly turn into an impenetrable wall of fog. That’s why you should act with foresight and avoid these seven mistakes at all costs.

We often go too fast because we misjudge the visibility in the fog. We involuntarily drive faster because we hope to get out of the fog faster and are afraid of the cars behind us. Rule of thumb: If you only see a street sign in front of you, don’t drive faster than 50 km/h.

Keep your distance! Yes, the tail lights of the vehicle in front are a tempting guide. We often go very close so as not to lose it under any circumstances. This can encourage the car in front and us to drive even faster.

If visibility is significantly restricted by fog, heavy snow or heavy rain, turn on the rear fog lamp. However, if there are vehicles directly behind you or visibility increases, please stop immediately. Otherwise others will be blinded and risk fines. Good to know: Front fog lights are useless during the day and only blind others.

Fog consists of rapidly freezing water droplets. Temperatures may also be lower on bridges; Even if other roads are not slippery, there is a risk of ice here. Wet leaves, barely visible in the fog, can form a lubricating film on the road even at above-zero temperatures.

When there is fog, a water film forms on the windshield imperceptibly. This blurs vision and leads to inaccurate assessment of visibility. Therefore, turn on the windshield wipers immediately in case of fog. If at the beginning of the autumn season the wiper blade is no longer wet, becomes stained or breaks with hairline cracks: it must be replaced.

The radar sensor of the collision warning system or adaptive cruise control also passes through the fog and warns when the distance to the vehicle in front is too close. But this is not complete insurance: if the layer of water above the sensor becomes too thick or freezes, the assistance system may suddenly stop and you are going too fast or too close to the car in front.

In dense fog, modern cars with automatic headlights are often exposed to more danger than older vehicles. Reason: Since the rear lights sometimes do not turn on when the daytime running lights are activated, they cannot be seen from behind in the fog most of the time. The tail lights only come on when you switch to dipped beam. Important: Automatic headlights do not always switch to low beam in fog. That’s why manually switching to dipped beam is very important – but unfortunately this is often forgotten.

Source: Blick